The Mole: Pokemon & Digimon Edition
by Gomamon
Summary: Ten characters from the Pokemon and Digimon series work together to complete challenges that will earn them up to a million dollars. But one person is secretly sabotaging their plans, also known as the Mole.
1. Episode 1: The Biggest Ego

**The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition**  
By: Gomamon

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

**Author's Notes**  
The Mole is a fantastic reality television show that is no longer broadcasting in the ABC network. The show's premise is: A number of players work together in challenges to accumulate money in a pot that one winner will take in entirety at the end of the show. However one certain player is hired by the producers to secretly cause sabotages in the game. That player is also known as the Mole.

The identity of the Mole is withheld from the players, and they must observe through actions and hidden clues accurately to determine who the Mole is. Each episode, the players will take a ten questioned quiz about the identity of the Mole, and the player who scores the lowest will be executed until only one winner and one Mole remain at the end.

Sounds confusing? You'll catch on. It is a twisted mind game where you can't trust anybody.

In this fictional edition inspired by the actual game, one predetermined player from either the Pokemon or Digimon cast is selected to play as the role of the Mole. Which of the nine players will find out the identity? And who is the Mole?

**Episode 1 – The Biggest Ego**

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon Tamers) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon Tamers)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora_ (Digimon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

- - -

Standing confidently at the front of a tour bus in his dark navy suit, Yamaki resembled more of an intimidating undercover agent than the friendly face of a reality show host. With his blonde crispy hair and nicely proportioned cheekbones, he would've been quite handsome if not for the angry snarl that he always wore on his face. His tiny evasive eyes stirred behind a pair of black shades, as he quietly analyzed the ten passengers and several discreetly positioned cameramen in the vehicle.

Outside of every bus window was a beautiful display of Niagara Falls with all its magnificent glory. Sounds of the waterfall waves clashing against the jagged cliff rocks could be heard if one listened very closely. Hundreds of tourists and spectators surrounded the waterfall, either snapping pictures with their cameras or just gazing dreamily at one of the world's seven wonders.

Likewise, the ten passengers showed far more interest staring at the waterfall in awe than paying any attention to Yamaki. Some players were whispering excitedly with each other about their upcoming adventure, hopefully leading them into even more spectacular locations in Toronto.

"Two groups of five from the Pokemon and Digimon series will be working together to complete challenges that could earn them to a maximum amount of one million dollars."

As Yamaki spoke in his loud and demanding voice, the ten passengers slowly pulled their eyes away from the windows, putting their attention on the reality show host once again.

"Using their observation skills, the players must try to collect all the possible clues to find out the Mole's secret identity. At the end of each episode, the players will have to take a quiz of ten questions about the Mole. The player who answers the least amount of questions correctly will be executed. Who is the Mole?"

Yamaki paused, with ten unfamiliar faces staring back at him.

"Welcome to Canada. Let the deceiving begin."

- - -

At the back of the bus, Tracey Sketchit watched the charismatic host babbled on with his next few lines. He tried to listen and take note to what Yamaki was actually saying, for it might be useful in the later phases of the game. But like many others, the giddy excitement of participating in the game made it difficult for Tracey to pay any attention whatsoever.

Tracey always thought that reality shows tended to be either too political or too sleazy. The Mole, however, wasn't just any ordinary reality show. It was wholesomely different from Survivor or Big Brother. This was a game for intellectuals, full of mental challenges and mind games. The complex concept of the show was very intriguing for the competitive Pokemon Watcher.

It was Professor Oak who recommended Tracey for the show, boasting about how his faithful assistant would do wonders on a show that dealt with investigative observation. This game was simply made for somebody like Tracey to play, win and dominate. Tracey had been thrilled at the time, if only for hearing the complimentary praises from his respected idol. But with high praises came also the high expectations, and Tracey was starting to feel the pressure. What if he doesn't win the game? What would Professor Oak think of him then? Worst of all…what if he was executed first?

The horror of that! No, he simply cannot think about that!

Tracey looked around the bus to size up his competition, as well as distinguishing some familiar faces from the crowd. He was already taking mental notes down in his head, dismissing the weaklings and highlighting the major players in the game.

Sitting in front of him was Ash Ketchum, the ambitious Pokemon trainer from Pallet Town. The young boy was wearing his token baseball cap on top of his messy scruffy black hair. He pressed his face against the bus window to enjoy a glamorous view of the waterfall.

_Not a threat._

Briefly eyeing Misty Waterflower and Jessie from Team Rocket, he quickly skimmed past their faces dismissively as he turned over to the man sitting at the first seat of the aisle. Smirking pompously as if he had a deluded sense of self-importance, Gary Oak was listening attentively to Yamaki's instructions. Tracey's nostrils flared a little with jealousy as he watched the young Pokemon professor, ironically the arrogant grandson of the man he respected the most.

_Threat._

Tracey shifted his head to the other side of the bus, occupied with five foreign strangers he never met before, but that didn't stop the watcher from analyzing. Sitting adjacent to Tracey was Kenta Kitagawa, whose glasses and nervous smile gave him a slightly dorky and awkward appearance. He wore a look of worry on his face and immediately struck Tracey as one of the more vulnerable players of the game.

_Not a threat._

There was Jeri Katou, the friendly girl with the pair of innocent big eyes. In her hand was an orange hand puppet, imitating Yamaki accurately as he spoke. From her angelic beaming smile to her conservative green dress, it wasn't difficult for Tracey to immediately label her as the harmless sweetheart.

_Not a threat._

Tracey quickly skimmed past a perky girl with energetic purple hair and a handsome blonde with magnetic blue eyes, since Tracey didn't remember either of their names. Besides, he was much more interested with the mild mannered girl sitting at the very front of the bus. She sat in a strict and uptight manner, using her long attention span to capture every word coming out of Yamaki's mouth.

It was hard to capture what Tracey's first impression of Sora Takenouchi was. She was not strikingly beautiful, but there was something very warm and affectionate about her face. Her soft auburn hair rested on her firm shoulders, with tiny delicate curls on its ends. Dressed in a velvet red jacket and a pair of blue jeans, she carried a casual yet trendy in her fashion style that very few people could achieve.

But the most noticeable aspect of her was the soft faint smile on her face. There was just the slightest hint of defiance in that smile, as if it was hiding something conniving underneath. Tracey wasn't the type to draw into quick conclusions, but he knew at that moment he would be keeping a close eye on Sora Takenouchi.

_She is definitely the Mole._

- - -

After the obligatory instructions were completed, the players were psyched to finally begin the game. The ever lively Yolei Inoue let out an energetic holler as Yamaki announced their first challenge.

"Your first task is to elect one leader to represent all of you. You have two minutes with your decision," declared Yamaki.

Ash Ketchum proudly erected his body forward from a lazy slouch. Yamaki asked for a natural leader and the young Pokemon trainer believed he fulfilled all the necessary traits of a great leader. He was not afraid to take risks, and he always put others in consideration before himself. Ash had no question in his mind that he would be selected to be the leader. They'd be stupid not to.

"It's obvious who should be the leader of this pack, isn't it?" Gary asked, carrying a pompous smirk on his face.

"No, I don't think so." Jessie abruptly cut in, "You're definitely not a leader."

"Not a good leader," echoed Ash.

Gary rolled his eyes, shifting his body towards the window once more. He wasn't interested in contributing to the discussion if he was excluded from the spotlight.

"I know somebody who is responsible enough to be our representative," said Matt Ishida.

Ash instantly leapt up from his seat. He didn't wait for Matt to call out his name, because he just knew that Matt was talking about him.

"Ash, why are you standing up?" Misty asked, resisting the strong urge to laugh at her friend.

The self-claimed leader scratched his head as he looked around at all the blank faces in the bus. He nervous smiled and eventually dropped back into his seat, ignoring the glances of ridicule from the other players.

Near the back of the bus, Kenta Kitagawa had sunk uncomfortably into his seat, going quite unnoticed by most of the players. No doubts about it, he wasn't a leader in any shape or form. He lacked the courage and the confidence to take the lead. In situations like this, Kenta preferred to be a follower.

"I nominate Sora. She would make an excellent leader," said Matt.

"I second that!" Yolei agreed with a vigorous nod of head.

"Sora would be a good leader. I'm good at reading people," confirmed Tracey, thrusting the third nail into Ash's ego.

Just like that, the group unanimously voted Sora to be their leader. The modest teenager felt a faint smile spread across her lips at her new role. First day of the game and all of the players had already put their absolute trust in her. If Sora Takenouchi was the Mole, they'd all be toast by now.

"Aw thanks guys. I'll try my best," cooed Sora.

The bus suddenly halted, and the new leader followed Yamaki off the bus, excited but unsure at the aspects of her new title.

"Downtown Toronto…this is the eventful quarter of the city where we'll hold our first three challenges," said Yamaki, scanning his eyes around at the tall buildings and busy crowded streets. "But before we do anything, I'd like to make an offer to you."

A grin slowly emerged on Sora's face. She was always ready for surprises.

"As the leader, you'll be making some very difficult choices in this game. Right now, I present to you your first decision," said Yamaki. "You may either choose to add $5,000 into the pot, or get two bonus points on the quiz."

"As the leader, you will be making some very difficult decisions in the game. Right now, I present to you your first decision," said Yamaki, "You may either choose to add $5,000 into the pot, or get two bonus points on the quiz. I will need a response in a minute."

Sora took a glance at the unsuspecting players on the bus, doubtful if they'll ever forgive her if she took the two beneficial bonus points on the quiz. It wasn't a popular way to start the game if all the other players hated her guts for choosing selfishly instead of thinking for the rest of the group.

She knew that the two bonus points will almost be like a free pass to the next round, especially when there are nine other competitors. It would be the smart thing to do, ensuring safety on the first quiz. But on the other hand, Sora felt guilty for letting her team down this early on. After all, they all trusted her to be a responsible leader, and she wasn't ready to disappoint her supporters by making such a selfish move.

Fickle between her two choices, Sora suddenly felt the urge to run up to her boyfriend Matt and asked him to make the decision instead.

"Let's add the money into the pot." Sora looked at Yamaki for his reaction before continuing. "I don't think it's likely I'll be eliminated first, right?"

"Congratulations Sora, you've added your first batch of money into the pot!"

**POT: $5,000/$5,000**

Sora smiled softly. She thought she picked the correct choice, a selfless choice, but she was happy that she didn't let her team down. They'd be proud of what she did.

"For our next part of the challenge, you need to divide the remaining nine players into three categories," said Yamaki, holding up three fingers in his hand. "We need three navigators, three negotiators, three athletes and one damn good leader."

- - -

Yolei Inoue slowly twirled her finger around her around her long and flowing purple hair, gazing absently around the bus. The trio of Ash, Misty and Tracey were chatting quietly together, as was the pair of Tamers at the back of the bus. Gary and Jessie sat alone, both of them feverishly writing inside their journals, a tiny green book that they had been given by Yamaki to assist them with note taking and the overall investigation.

She also had her journal opened to a fresh empty page, but Yolei had no idea what to write down. They were all strangers to her and she knew hardly anything about them beyond first impressions. What else is there to write? Fumbling around with her purple inked pen, she scribbled down the first thing that came up to her mind.

_Gary is cute._

Giggling softly to herself, Yolei quickly crossed the sentence out, slightly embarrassed at the fact that she was incapable to meeting a cute guy without instantly having a schoolgirl crush that fogged her judgment. Coming into this game, she knew her biggest obstacle was not losing focus on the real goal of winning this game. The chances of that happening was somewhat diminished though, seeing as her scattered brain was easily distracted at the sight of a handsome man.

Admittedly, it was a shallow and annoying habit that she couldn't seem to grow out of. Before she even knew it, her entranced big eyes were running up and down Gary's body countless times, like a hungry wolf marking its prey. When she came into realization of what she was doing, she quickly turned away, promising to herself to stay focused and not think about Gary ever again.

"Hey Yolei, what's up?" Matt Ishida asked in his normally charming voice. Seeing as Yolei was the only person whom he knew on the bus, the blonde quickly planted a seat beside her in an attempt to start a conversation.

"I'm feeling perfecto!" Yolei laughed airily, happy to have her mind focused on something else instead.

"What do you think about that guy?" Matt lowered his voice to a husky whisper, subtly pointing his thumb over to where Gary was sitting. "That Gary guy acts like he's the Mole."

Yolei sighed, burying her blushing face into her hands. No matter how hard she tried, she just can't escape from thoughts about Gary Oak! All thoughts of competing were immediately pushed aside in disregard from the moment she laid eyes on Gary. Right now, her mind was only buzzing with one thought:

_The most important thing about this game is to end up with a cute boyfriend._

But surprisingly enough, Yolei wasn't the only person who seemed to be fascinated with Gary. Ambitious Pokemon trainer Ash was also psyched to meet with Gary again, but for an entirely different and sinister reason: he was going to kick Gary Oak's sorry little ass.

Putting aside his immense dislike against Gary for now, Ash turned to his friends Tracey and Misty and joined in with their conversation.

"As I was saying, an exemption is a free pass to the next round," said Tracey, leaning forward in his seat to chat with Misty. "If you win an exemption, you automatically proceed to the next round."

"I don't get it. What's an exemption again?" Ash asked stupidly, scratching his hand in confusion. The big words are obviously not processing into his head very clearly.

"Never mind, Ash," said Tracey, laughing nervously. He had given up on explaining the simple concept to Ash.

However, Misty Waterflower had no problems following very closely to what Tracey was saying. Seemingly knowledgeable about the concepts and rules of this game, Misty showed enthusiasm at the idea of winning an exemption early in this game.

"But an exemption would be really helpful to have in this game, especially this early on in the game when you don't really know about the other players," said Misty.

"Oh definitely, obtaining an exemption is one step closer to the final round," said Tracey, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

While Tracey might not be as cutthroat as some of the other players on the bus, he was still a strong competitor who didn't want to lose. Imagine the humility of being executed first in the game! And yet the possibility isn't so farfetched in his head.

What would Professor Oak think of him if he was executed first? Oh no, he simply couldn't be executed first. Tracey wouldn't allow it.

Even if it meant that he will do _anything_ to win the ever valuable exemption.

- - -

Ready to begin the first challenge, Yamaki instructed the nine players to leave the bus. Shy Kenta hid carefully from the sight of the cameramen by hiding behind Tracey's blocky frame, although still in earshot to listen to Yamaki's instructions. Hoping not to be noticed and merely blending in the background, this almost felt like a game for him, hiding from the visibility of the cameras as much as possible.

Yamaki quickly explained Sora's decision of adding $5,000 into the pot by refusing two bonus points on her quiz, which received many claps and hollers from her fellow players. Sora smiled modestly, appreciating the overwhelmingly positive response from her fellow players.

"Sora was then asked to select three navigators to participate in the first challenge," said Yamaki. "That would be Gary, Kenta and Kenji."

_Darn it._ Kenta sighed, after hearing that his strategy of fading into the background was already foiled.

"Using a map of downtown Toronto, the three navigators will lead their fellow players to a Hilton Hotel, where you lot will be living in for the next several days," Yamaki explained. "All ten of you are expected to arrive at the hotel in an hour. Players not participating in this challenge aren't permitted to talk or assist the navigators in any way. I'll take $1,000 off every time somebody breaks the rule."

"How much money will we be playing for?" asked Gary.

"Sora wagered a certain sum of money into this challenge," Yamaki gave a vague response. "Anyway, let's begin the challenge."

Yamaki handed Tracey a folded map of Toronto, and then silently walked towards the back of the pack. As Tracey unfolded the map, his team members Gary and Kenta slowly joined beside him.

"Just follow us! We'll lead you to the hotel in no time!" Tracey grinned at the pack of players behind him.

Jeri beamed appreciatively at the enthusiasm displayed, fondly connecting with the positive energy that the Pokemon Watcher provided. She couldn't put it into words, but Jeri had no doubts that they were going to ace the challenge with Tracey around.

"We need to locate the hotel," said Gary, sounding very serious and professional. Seconds later, Kenta pointed where the hotel was on the map.

"And then we need to find out where we are," said Tracey. Kenta dashed forward, frantically searching for any street signs around.

Burying his face into the map, Gary scanned over the entire page until he spotted a mysteriously marker highlighted area at the lower right corner. He scrunched up his eyebrows and tapped Tracey on the shoulder.

"What's this?" Gary asked, fingering the faintly green highlight on the map. Brought to attention, Tracey leant in closer to study the mysterious spot as well.

"Light green is the colour of exemptions, right?" asked Tracey. Gary just shrugged, responding with a vague 'Uh, I dunno'.

"It is going to be a long walk, but the directions are easy," said Kenta, returning from his quick search for street signs. Unaware of the new discovery that his two partners have found, he hastily explained where they were. "We need to make a left turn at the next street and walk straight."

Gary's finger was still planted on the highlighted area, mumbling an ambiguous response. Tracey nervously looked at Gary for reassurance before replying back.

"We think this place might have something to do with an exemption," said Tracey quietly.

"Exemptions," corrected Gary with wishful thinking.

"I don't like the idea," Kenta frowned, after studying the map for a few seconds. "It's a completely different route from where the hotel is. We wouldn't have enough time to make it to both places."

"We could make a little detour…it'd be really quick," said Tracey, with no subtlety in his choice of words.

"Let's just go to the hotel," said Kenta. He didn't like the idea of a distraction, knowing that it will throw the group off course – and they haven't even begun the challenge yet!

"Well, I think we should check it, at the very least," suggested Gary.

"I'll go!" Tracey volunteered immediately, his eyes twinkling with hope. All thoughts of the actual challenge vanished, for Tracey suddenly decided he was far more interested going for the exemption instead.

"Wait! I don't think it's a good idea we split up," said Gary, then he added a little impatiently, "Besides, I found the place first."

"It's an ex-emp-tion!" From the way Tracey stressed the final word, one would think it was something that meant life and death to the Pokemon watcher.

"It isn't fair you get an exemption when we don't!" argued Gary, not ready to give up on a confrontation.

But a coy grin appeared on the lenient watcher's face as he spit out two words to Gary's face,

"Screw you."

And Tracey dashed off to a different direction, after quickly memorizing over the address of the building. He chuckled slightly as he abandoned the group for his own self interest. The other players all turned to each other with shocked expressions, dropping their mouths in silent surprise at what Tracey just did.

Jeri Katou took Tracey's escape the most emotionally, completely shocked at seeing human nature rearing its ugly end. The little girl with big innocent eyes couldn't believe the quick transition between an enthusiastic team player to the selfish no-good doer in mere minutes. One thing was for sure, first impressions were never accurate.

Looking absolutely flustered that Tracey would just leave them in the middle of their first challenge, Kenta instantly jumped into panic mode. Train of nervous thoughts roared through his meek little head: How were they ever going to finish the challenge? Luckily, a far more calm and collected Gary took reigns of the disaster, hastily steering them on track again. After making a quick recovery from the absence of a third team member, the two navigators continued to lead the group through the busy streets of Toronto.

"We should walk straight ahead, with or without Tracey!" said Gary, waving the map in his hand like a tourist flag. The young confident professor unsurprisingly adopted the role of the leader, especially since Kenta was far too passive and reserved for the job. Although one wouldn't notice from the tone of his solemn voice, Gary was definitely very disappointed at the turn of events in this challenge.

"Neither Kenta nor I took the exemption when we had the chance." Gary would later say in a camera interview, summarizing up mostly everybody's thoughts in the challenge. "Tracey only cares about Tracey, and he doesn't regard jack about anybody else. Sketchit is definitely on my hit list after this."

But nevertheless, the most important thing was that they were making good progress in the challenge as they approached closer and closer to the hotel. However, not all is well and peaceful after Tracey's departure. Striding through the street in her four inched high heels and sweat clinging to her long-sleeved turtleneck sweater, Jessie was growing less comfortable with each passing minute. It boiled down to the point when finally it was too much for Jessie, where she muttered out a soft cuss word that she thought nobody would hear.

Unfortunately, not even the faintest of sounds could escape from Yamaki's delicate ears.

"$1,000 deduction for talking, Musashi," said Yamaki. It came as a kind of a shock to hear the host's voice all of a sudden, since most of the players had forgotten that the host was following behind the rest of the players in the challenge.

Jeri frowned a little at the deduction, trying her best to not snarl at Jessie. The two girls didn't talk once in the game yet, but from what Jeri had been seeing so far, they weren't going to get along.

Burying his head once more in the map, Gary made a confident turn in the left direction, but his partner Kenta looked uncertain with Gary's hasty decision.

"Are you sure we turn left this street? I thought it was the next street," Kenta muttered uneasily, not having enough courage to look at Gary to his face.

Without saying anything, Gary handed the map over to Kenta. The little boy then realized that he was about to give Gary the satisfaction of being right.

"Oh I see. You're right, my bad."

"Good for you."

Ash rolled his eyes behind Gary's back. If Misty hadn't anxiously slapped her hand over his mouth, Ash probably would've told Gary to shove his attitude up a certain place by now. The mouth trainer would be the first to admit that he wasn't a Gary fan, and he probably wasn't alone in the category either.

"Gary bugs me. The way he talks down to people like he's better than the rest of us…I mean, who does that? It's not normal behaviour. He's not a good person at all." Ash explained, venting angrily to the cameras. Normally he wouldn't put so much energy to be negative towards a person, but he made a special exception for Gary.

He pumped his fists into his hand. Ash Ketchum was getting real livid just talking and thinking about his Pallet Town rival.

"What is it with him anyway? Every time he opens his mouth, I want to tell the loser to shut up! Do us all a favour!"

Those were all the words he said in a confessional, but for the sake of the challenge, Ash kept his opinions to himself. Unlike his perception of Gary, Ash prided himself in being a true team player.

The ambitious trainer from Pallet Town hadn't intentionally signed up for the game at first. He had mistaken the application form to be the entry for yet another Pokemon battling tournament. But when he found out that he actually signed up to play The Mole, he knew the offer was too good to back down. In fact, it was such a decent proposal that he reluctantly left the responsibilities of Pikachu and his other Pokemon to Brock in order to participate in this game.

Winning was one major motivation for Ash to leave the Pokemon world for a while to play the game. He loved the sheer victory of pummelling his opponents to bits. He loved the bragging rights to namedrop his successes to random acquaintances he met throughout his journey.

But at the end, it all boiled down to one reason. Ash Ketchum was playing to outlast Gary Oak.

- - -

At last, they've finally arrived at the hotel. The players shuffled into the hotel, breathing in the fresh air of victory. It took them thirty five minutes to arrive at their destination, but they successfully completed their challenge by arriving at the Hilton Hotel on time.

"We're here! We're here!" Kenta shouted happily. Jessie was just glad that they didn't have to do any more walking.

"Yay! We won our first challenge!" Jeri laughed, engaging everybody in a cheer.

"$1,000 deduction to Juri for speaking before the challenge is over," said Yamaki unexpectedly.

_What?_

In shock, Jeri turned to her fellow players with a puzzled face. She didn't understand about the deduction. Weren't they finished with the challenge?

"The challenge isn't over yet," said Gary in a slightly irritated voice. "The horrid monstrosity that is Tracey isn't here yet, and all ten of us need to be here in order to win."

"Damn it," muttered Matt. It was one of the few cuss words that he wished he could immediately retract. Yamaki caught it immediately.

"That will amount to another deduction, another $1,000 out the pot!"

Five minutes passed, then another five. The players wandered anxiously around the hotel, waiting impatiently for Tracey to enter through the door any minute now. After losing $3,000 in penalties, the players learned their lessons and obediently kept their mouths shut. But Tracey never showed up from wherever he went, and as the clock quickly ticked to its last few minutes, it seemed like a loss, on their _first_ challenge, was inevitable.

Although words couldn't be expressed, what the players were feeling was unanimous. Betrayed, furious and exhausted, there was only one person in their minds that could be blamed for the entire loss. He abandoned the group for an exemption and he didn't come back on time, just as Kenta had predicted. Tracey Sketchit didn't even know that he was already labelled as the most hated player of the game.

He didn't show up at the door until twenty minutes after the challenge was lost. Wearing a satisfied smile on his face, he soon realized that he was the only person in the room that was smiling. But he ignored their long faces, for nothing could bring down the Pokemon Watcher's spirits today. There it was in his hand, a green card that contained the word "exemption" on it. His promised was fulfilled; Tracey wouldn't be the first person executed from the game.

"Congratulations to Kenji for obtaining the exemption at our mysterious location!" said Yamaki, patting Tracey on the back. The Pokemon watcher grinned bashfully to his achievement. "But unfortunately you did not arrive at the hotel on time, so therefore the challenge is lost. Also, the group will be deducted $3,000 as a penalty for talking."

**POT: $2,000/$?0000**

Tracey took a sideways glance at the players that he abandoned an hour ago, and it was shocking to him that the welcoming faces he saw an hour ago were now changed into deathly glares and unhappy frowns. Some, like Matt and Jessie, looked like they were ready to throw a few punches in his smiling face.

But Tracey knew that he was the only person who would definitely be in the next round.

And for that, he was happy.

"_Screw_ them. I don't care what they think," Tracey said to the cameras, emphasizing his first word. He leant back in his chair, fiddling with his chubby little fingers playfully. "They could hate me all they want, but somebody is getting executed and it isn't going to be me. Instead of focusing their anger on me, they should actually worry about staying in the game first! Ha!"

Tracey chuckled mockingly. He knew Professor Oak would be proud.

"If any of them think I am the Mole after this challenge, then I'm killing two birds with one stone. Let them get delusional in the game, ha!

- - -

After being kept speechless for an entire hour, the players were very chatty and talkative during their lunch break. All of the players were using this time to know each other better, except for Tracey, who stayed in his room and claimed that he wasn't hungry.

"He's probably to face us like a real man," said Gary.

Yolei smiled dreamily, nodding to every word that Gary says. Her early crush on Gary only deepened, especially after his heroic attempt to win the challenge earlier today.

"Whoever the Mole is here, just make sure Tracey goes home the next week," said Matt, and then shared a good laugh with Gary. The two men seemed to be clicking with each other through their similar styles in thinking.

But some of the other players were feeling quite averse to joining in the Tracey-bashing. Misty and Ash kept quiet, obviously not wanting to say anything bad about their friend. There were several times when Ash clutched his fist tightly and opened his mouth to argue in Tracey's defence, but Misty was quick to stomp her foot on Ash's shoe to prevent him from ruining their first pleasant meal together as a group. Group harmony, in her opinion, was the top priority.

"Nothing brings the group more together than a common enemy, I guess." Sora shrugged as she gave a camera confessional. The kind-hearted leader also had an individual take on the whole situation. "I think it's a bit harsh at the way they're treating him…but hey, I'm not going to act self-righteous and tell them how immature they're behaving. I'm not the person who'll regret what I see on television later."

From the moment she entered the show, Sora was very conscious with how the cameras were going to portray her on television. It was her main fear when she applied on the show with her boyfriend, because she was afraid that they would edit in a bad personality, a _false_ one, for her.

She was only being herself after all, but she also didn't want to say anything that she would regret later on. Besides, she understood what Tracey had to do in this game, but she didn't quite understand why the players were being so brutal against Tracey, with the gang mentality and all.

"It's always just a game for me," Sora gave a small smile to the cameras. "I guess some people forget about that."

After the brief lunch break, all ten players were aboard on the bus again, driving to their next destination. During the ride, Misty and Yolei broke the gap between Pokemon and Digimon series by sitting beside each other. Purple haired Yolei found an instant liking for the fiery redhead, appreciating her assertiveness and their many similar traits and interests.

"Tell me what you think of Gary," said Yolei giggly, turning their conversation into the subject that she found fascinating. In her mind, Gary was still an enigma, a challenge and a potential boyfriend.

"He isn't my type, too egoistical," Misty scrunched up her face in reply. Like Ash, she never liked the conceited little prick.

"He did a pretty good job in the challenge though."

"I suppose."

"Is Tracey really as bad as he seems?" Yolei asked, changing the topic.

"No, he is misunderstood. That's all."

And as much as Yolei wanted to carry on the conversation, she was finding it difficult to acquire any valuable information from her new friend Misty. They could have a smoothly flowing conversation just fine when they were talking about irrelevant topics to the game, but as soon as Yolei tried to learn more about the Pokemon cast, Misty would clam up and give out short vague answers.

"My strategy is to befriend everybody and learn more about their backgrounds, but Misty is making it so difficult for me to know everybody." Yolei explained in her confessional, sounding slightly baffled. "We could talk for hours about stupid things like clothes or sports, but her lips are sealed when it comes down to talking about her friends. I mean, the girl is great but she is driving me crazy!"

But Yolei liked Misty enough, and she continued to play in her charade. May be in enough time, she will be able to break down Misty's barrier of distrust for her, or at least that was what Yolei optimistically hoped for.

Misty knew exactly what Yolei was doing, and the feisty gym leader did not plan to tell her new friend a single thing.

After a two hour drive or so, the players finally arrived at their second destination for the day. Instantly, the players oohed and ahhed in fascination as the bus came to a slow stop in front of the world's tallest freestanding structure.

"This is the CN Tower," said Yamaki. But once again, the players were too busy gawking out the windows to pay attention to their host. "Standing over 1800 feet tall, it truly is one of Toronto's prime spots."

"That's awesome," muttered Kenta, grinning from ear to ear.

"For the next challenge, three athletes will need to climb over 1770 steps to reach the observation deck. If all of them finish the climb in less than twenty eight minutes, you will add more money into the pot," explained Yamaki. ""The three athletes are Miyako, Satoshi and Yamato. You will be starting your challenge at the base of the tower. The rest of us will wait for your arrival at the observation deck."

"Yeah! We'll win this!" bellowed Ash at the back of the bus. He was psyched to finally participate in a challenge, rather than watching from the sidelines.

"Good luck, everyone!" Sora added encouragingly. Then, she turned to her boyfriend and gave him a quick sweet peck on the cheeks.

"Whoa! I feel energized now! I'm ready to win, baby!" Matt laughed, returning the kiss in favour.

By the time they were about to begin the challenge, the atmosphere in the bus was swarming with positive thinking and higher spirits never experienced before. Looking forward to a first win, their previous loss was forgotten through the cheering and laughing going on. Nine of the players were certain that they were going to have a hands-down first victory.

Only the tenth player was silently anticipating for a second loss.

- - -

At the base of the tower, bus driver Riley was preparing the three runners for the upcoming challenge. Eager to get started, Ash was doing some warming up exercises and stretches before the run. At a faraway corner where Matt and Yolei were standing, the pair was having an intimate and suspicious conversation with each other. Every now and then, Ash would turn around and see Matt running a hand through his golden blonde hair, while Yolei would giggle girlishly in response and twirl her long delicate fingers around her shirt collar.

"We are about to start the challenge. The three of you will be starting this race at the same time," said Riley. "The obvious direction is to run up the stairs until you hit the marker, but remember…safety first."

Nodding in response, the three players scurried to the front of the staircase, prepared to begin the race. Ash already had his foot on the first step, ready to dart forward at the moment when Riley gives the signal.

"On your marks…get set…GO!"

The players leaped forward and began jogging up the tower. Ash took a margin lead over Matt and Yolei, hopping two or three steps at a time. Following energetically behind, Yolei and Matt were slowly pacing themselves as they ascended, jogging comfortably at a slow but steady speed.

"It's not a race, Ash! Conserve your energy!" Yolei screamed, but the active Pokemon trainer was already three floors above the duo.

"Did Ash know the tale of Tortoise and the Hare?" Matt asked with a small chuckle. He was taking this race like a casual power walk.

"I'd say not! That kid has a lot of energy to burn down." Yolei laughed, shaking her head in dismissal. She didn't like how Ash was only thinking short term in the race, because he was obviously going to run out of energy halfway through the course.

"It's not a sprint…it's a damn long marathon," mumbled Matt ominously.

While the three runners were jogging up the tower, the other players were waiting for them at the observation deck, hoping they'd arrive in less than twenty eight minutes. However, things were about to change when Yamaki stepped out of the glass elevator, carrying three green journals in his hand.

"Hello players. While the three players are running the race, we'll begin our third challenge as well." Yamaki smirked slyly. "Sora selected three negotiators, and they were Juri, Musashi and Kasumi. Please come over."

Exchanging confused looks with each other, the three girls slowly walked towards their host with a heavy aura of suspicion. They were then instructed to each take a journal from Yamaki's hand. Jessie made the initiative to take the green journal furthest away from where she was standing, while Misty picked the middle one and gave Jeri the remaining book.

"On the first page of your journals, there'll be one word written inside the first page. It could be one of three words: money, exemption or power," explained Yamaki. "Please open to your first page and read your message, but don't show it to anybody."

Misty quickly flipped to the first page of her given journal, taking a swift glance and then immediately slamming the book close. Jeri wore an anxious look on her face after reading what was in her journal, while Jessie smiled impishly at her results.

"May the player with power written on her book please raise their hand?"

_Who is it? Who is it?_

Gary Oak watched the three girls' movement very closely under his careful analytic eyes. He saw how Jeri was nervously twiddling her fingers, how Jessie's eyelashes were fluttering rapidly, and how Misty was standing with perfect calmness…what could this all mean? But as much as the young researcher took pride in his detecting skills, he was clueless. He had no idea which girl had which item in their journals.

And just this morning, Gary thought he had this little mind game wrapped in his hands. There was no way any of these players could ever fool the teenage mastermind. The second Gary laid eyes on the Mole would be the exact moment the winner was pronounced in this game.

"Crown me as the winner," Gary had arrogantly said in a confessional. "Or the entire game is pointless. I could care less if I was executed first if I'm not going to win."

Gary Oak was born a winner.

Yet the Johto League loss still haunted him to this very day, and it hurt so much more to be defeated in the incompetent hands of his bumbling archrival, Ash Ketchum. So Gary was suspicious at first when his grandfather told him about the game, questioning Professor Oak's ulterior motives. He didn't want to lose again in front of an audience, and his bloated self-esteem couldn't endure another humiliating defeat again. It was almost as if Gary prioritized not losing above winning itself.

Because even though Gary was born a winner, he was also a very sore loser.

"Who has power written in their journal?"

A meek little hand raised in uncertainty, as everybody's heads turned to that direction at once. That hand belonged to a nervous looking Jeri Katou, trying very best not to do anything stupid in the challenge.

"Juri, you've the power." Yamaki began, "In Kasumi and Musashi's hands are the two remaining journals, containing either the money or an exemption. By the end of five minutes, you're asked to pick one of the journals. If you pick the journal with money, a certain amount of money will be added."

Juri gulped, not liking the new power that she was presented with.

"But if you choose the journal with the exemption, no money will be added. In addition, that player will also win the exemption consisted inside her journal."

Misty immediately turned her head to shoot Jessie a dirty glare.

"Ladies, you've a few minutes to present your case to Juri why she should pick you over the other players. You may begin the challenge."

Taking a deep and nervous breath, Misty instantly locked her intense eyes with Jeri. The Cerulean gym leader knew that eye contact would be essential in order for Jeri to believe in her.

"I have the money."

Jessie scoffed in agitation, but bided her tongue from leashing her strong opinions.

"You may not know me very well yet, Jeri." Misty wore a genuine smile on her face, brushing a few strands of hair from her eyes. "But I'm not a very good liar. I don't have the exemption, and you're hearing nothing from me but the truth."

Jessie heard enough from the loudmouth twerp. She wasn't going to wait any longer for that pile of bullshit to sink into Jeri's head.

"I know that twerp is lying her ass off," said Jessie angrily. "I've the money inside _my_ journal, not hers."

"You're the one who's lying." Misty retorted quickly, rolling her eyes.

"She is lying through her teeth," Jessie warned cautiously. "You may choose to believe me, or you may trust that dishonest scumbag."

"Don't pick her, Jeri. You'll regret it."

"Lies, lies and lies!" Jessie positioned her hand inches in front of Misty's face.

"Believe me, Jeri!"

"She is lying."

"No matter what you say, I'm telling the truth!"

"The only thing you were honest about is that you were an awful liar."

Sora made a face as the two women continued to talk over each other in this heated verbal argument. She didn't like the intensity of the challenge at all, and she knew very well that Jeri was in a positive ten times worse. Suddenly, she felt awful assigning Jeri into this negotiating challenge.

"Ladies, that's enough," said Yamaki, acting as the moderator of this argument.

Jeri appeared even more agitated than before, failing miserably to read the expressions on both women's faces. Jessie poised her head high, confidently thrusting her chest forward. Misty carried an emotionless face, but her keen eyes never averted its gaze from Jeri. She was also mouthing two words to Jeri: _Believe me._

Was the liar Jessie, the sassy Team Rocket villain who had years of criminal background to deceive even as she slept? Or was the liar Misty, proving to Jeri once again that her first impression of people was never accurate?

"It is time for you to make a decision, Juri," said Yamaki.

"I pick Misty's journal," mumbled Jeri. After weighing out her options, she finally came out with an answer – she just hoped that it was the right one.

Jeri closed her eyes, hoping to feel better about the results if she never knew the answer. Curiosity eventually kicked in, and she peeked through a small gap between her fingers. Jessie had thrown her arms up in the air and plopped on a chair in defeat, whereas Misty was smiling in an almost too guilty manner, slowly turning to the first page of her journal.

There was only one word printed inside the entire page: EXEMPTION

Jeri's stomach dropped as she read the word over and over again. By making the one most important wrong choice, she failed the challenge, she failed to impress the others and most importantly, she failed herself.

"I told you so," muttered Jessie angrily.

"The pot remains at $2,000, but Kasumi wins the second exemption of the day." Yamaki announced.

**POT: $2,000/$?0,000**

Sora immediately gave Jeri a quick hug after seeing that small tears formed in the little girl's eyes. Jeri was just a kid, and Sora felt that she doesn't deserve to feel like this on the first day.

"You sure fooled me." Tracey chuckled, patting Misty on the back, but she was looking very remorseful with what she had done.

While the other players hovered around the distraught Jeri to console her with kind encouragement, Jessie angrily stomped away in defeat. It wasn't even their second consecutive loss that made Jessie so ticked, but it was the fact that everybody blamed Jessie as the villain who made poor innocent Jeri cry.

"That scrawny little twerp is crying her eyes out to get shit sympathy because she screwed up the challenge," hissed Jessie venomously in a camera confessional. She was probably the only person who didn't emphasize with Jeri for the loss. But then again, Jessie was never a very forgiving person.

Didn't the same pack of players cruelly crucify Tracey when he lost the first challenge for an exemption? Why weren't they giving the same treatment to an equally responsible Misty or Jeri? Jessie absolutely hated the hypocritical way these players played the game, and she hated Jeri even more for using her false crocodile tears to manipulate the others. Was Jessie the only person who could see what was going on?

"If that's the treatment they're going to give me, then fine." Jessie pursed her lips. "I wasn't planning to play the game this way, but they're forcing my inner bitch to come out."

And then Jessie smirked, and the furiously Team Rocket member wagged her index finger disapprovingly in the air. It was an ominous sign for things to come in the future.

"Nobody messes with Jessie."

- - -

But though they were upset about their second loss, most of the other players still had high hopes for the third challenge that was still undergoing. It had been over twenty minutes since they've started, and they were all anxiously waiting for the three runners to emerge out of the staircase any minute now. Yamaki and Riley stood right by the exit, both holding a stopwatch in their hands, ready to record the players' finishing times.

It was a few minutes after when the first player emerged out of the staircase with a charming smile on his face. It was Matt Ishida, and he didn't look like he broke a sweat in the entire run. Running easily ran across the finish line and leapt right into his girlfriend's embrace.

"What's the time?" Yamaki asked.

On a mobile chalkboard placed conveniently behind her, Riley wrote down the time read on her stopwatch: _Matt – 21m46s_

Matt grinned happily, gulping down some water from the bottle that Sora prepared for him. No sooner did the players finished celebrating before a second figure emerged from the exit. Sweating slightly, Yolei Inoue managed to finish the race as well. She anxiously turned to Yamaki and Riley for her finishing time.

Riley checked her stopwatch and compared the time with Yamaki. They finally agreed and Riley wrote down: _Yolei – 23m16s_

"Yes!" Yolei pumped her fist energetically in the air. Taking this golden opportunity to approach closer to Gary, she launched her sweaty body around unexpectedly around the professor in an awkward hug.

Finally, Ash pathetically took his last few steps through the finish line a few minutes later. He looked exhausted and the bright energy that he had at the beginning of the race vanished completely, just as Matt and Yolei predicted long ago. It was such a disgraceful display that it made Gary's heart jump in joy. Ash's impulsive running at the start of the race took a huge stressful tow on his otherwise athletic body, and it was his lack of long term thinking that made him the slowest runner out of the three.

Riley finally scribbled on the chalkboard: _Ash – 24s02s_

"Yolei beat you," said Gary delightfully.

"By like, fifty seconds!" Ash angrily retorted, wiping sweat from his forehead with a towel.

"Congratulations players! Since you have all completed the course below twenty eight minutes, you've successfully added money into the pot! This is your first win!" Yamaki announced happily.

Matt gave both Ash and Yolei an ecstatic high-five, with complimentary clapping from the rest of the players. They finally accomplished their first victory in today!

"But there's one more offer I've to make to our top finisher." Yamaki slowly turned over to face Matt. "Yamato, I'll offer you an exemption at the expense of the money bet in this challenge."

"No." Matt abruptly replied, not allowing Yamato elaborate on the details any longer. He'd never pass out a chance that'd allow him to look like the good guy in a situation. "We worked to hard to finally win a challenge, and I'm not going to be the one to give it up."

All the players erupted in joyful cheers, chanting Matt's name as if he was the saviour of the day. Sora planted a huge slobbering kiss on Matt's cheeks as a reward.

"Sora bet $30,000 on this tower climbing challenge. Since it was a victory and Yamato sacrificed his proposal, the money will be fully added into the pot," said Yamaki. "However, you've failed the other two challenges and the money bet - $10,000 on the navigating challenge and $20,000 on the negotiator challenge, won't be added into the pot unfortunately."

**POT: $32,000/$65,000**

It was a mixed response. Although they were still in glee at their recent victory, their previous losses seemed to have disappointed several of the players. Smirking evilly, Yamaki continued his speech while a few of the players were still celebrating.

"After dinner, we'll have our first execution quiz. Somebody will be going home tonight," said Yamaki. He had been dying to say these words for a very long time.

And suddenly nobody felt like celebrating anymore.

- - -

The players had a few hours of spare time before their upcoming execution quiz, and most of them spent this time studying their notes in their journals. A few of them took the quiz a lot less seriously, like Ash and Kenta, and the two boys have decided to slack off studying in order to wander aimlessly around the CN Tower and hang out at the arcade.

"Great job on the challenge today, Ash!" Kenta grinned enthusiastically, pressing a few random buttons on an arcade machine. Standing beside him, Ash responded with a boyish grin.

Easygoing and thick skinned, Ash Ketchum was a simple person to please. The active Pokemon trainer was fond of his new friend Kenta ever since the timid boy led the group successfully into the hotel at the first challenge (although Ash conveniently discredited fellow team member Gary). Even though Kenta didn't succeed in that challenge, his hard trying effort definitely won over Ash's respect. Ash always liked people who tried their best at everything and never surrender to a loss.

"Tell me more about the Pokemon world!" Kenta said encouragingly, attempting to start a friendly conversation between the two of them.

Ash's face lit up with interest, his eyes sparkling at the sound of the word. If there was one thing he could go blabbering hours and hours endlessly, it would've been Pokemon – his life and destiny.

"This is my Pikachu!" Ash boasted proudly as he showed a photo of his Pokemon in his wallet. "Pikachu is my best buddy."

"That's awesome." Kenta grinned, adjusting his glasses as he took a closer look at the picture. "Does it really shoot jolts though?"

"Oh yeah, Pikachu can do a lot of attacks!" Ash nodded vigorously, counting a list of attacks with his fingers. "There's Thunderbolt, Iron Tail, and a lot more!"

"Awesome," repeated Kenta, carefully returning the wallet to Ash. He then added with a dreamy smile. "I really hope I can go to the Pokemon World someday. Everything there sounds so surreal."

"You know what?" Ash chuckled softly, pulling out a red gadget from his jacket pocket. "I'll give you my Pokedex and you can check out some of the Pokemon overnight."

"I like Ash a lot!" Kenta confessed, showing off his new present in front of a cameraman. "I think he's a really cool guy and I can learn a _lot_ from him. He talks about all these exciting gym battles and adventures when he's off exploring and stuff. All of his stories amaze me."

Kenta had never been the most outgoing person, and he never made many friends because of his timid nature. He liked Ash for warmly opening up to him, he really did. But as he continued on with his confessional, Kenta wore a sheepish smile on his face.

"But Ash is so genuine and so straight forward that I don't think he could possibly be the Mole," said Kenta, shaking his head. "Ash is not the Mole."

Elsewhere in the tower, two very unlikely characters were meeting up with each other in a leisurely scroll across the observation deck. Her boyfriend Matt was studying over some notes in his journal, but Sora felt that it was more important to learn more about the other players in a less textbook manner.

"Toronto is gorgeous," said Sora dreamily. Standing beside her, Jessie nodded silently in agreement.

After deeming the rest of the players not worthy of her time, Jessie was very standoffish towards everybody in the game, so she was pleasantly surprised when Sora approached her for an actual conversation outside challenges – the first conversation that she had since she arrived in this game.

"You're hoping that your cute little boyfriend is here with you instead of me, right?" Jessie finally said at last, nudging Sora in the shoulder slightly.

"Of course not, I love your company Jessie!" Sora shook her head and then paused for a few seconds before admitting, "Okay, may be just a little."

Sora looked at Jessie timely for her reaction, hoping that she didn't say anything to offend the Team Rocket member. But Jessie was smiling delicately, seemingly not affected much by the truth.

"If you've to choose between Matt and a million dollars, which will you pick?" Jessie asked.

"Call me crazy, but I'll choose Matt over the cash," Sora replied instantly.

"You _are_ crazy!" Jessie laughed, nudging Sora once more in the shoulder.

"I know, but I can't help it. I just feel so…happy when I'm with Matt," said Sora, smiling weakly.

Hearing footsteps approaching them, the two women turned around to find Yamaki standing politely behind them.

"Good evening ladies," said Yamaki. "I've one final twist before the first execution for Sora."

"Of course you do," grunted Jessie, folding her arms.

"At the end of your reign as leader, I'm giving you one last assignment. Sora, you've the power to remove an exemption from either Kenji or Kasumi, or you can add $5,000 into the pot. I'll need a reply in one minute," explained Yamaki.

"Being a leader sucks," laughed Sora.

"This is an easy one." Jessie said dismissively, wagging her index finger in front of Yamaki's face. "I'll take the twerps' exemptions away in a heartbeat."

"But I can only take away one exemption." Sora mumbled unsurely. "Do I take it from Tracey, or do I take it from Misty?"

"It's your call, I they both deserved it after sabotaging the challenges. I personally suggest the twerp Misty." Jessie shrugged. She knew that she'd jump at any chance to take away an exemption from a _twerp._

"You don't understand, Jessie. This is like playing favourites, because I'm only taking one exemption from one person and not the other. How would Misty feel if I stripped her exemption and kept Tracey's?" Sora shook her head, sounding very distressed.

"Hey, it's just the game. Besides, it will increase our chances of surviving the execution," persuaded Jessie.

"No! I can't do it," said Sora sternly. "They earned it, Jessie. Both Tracey and Misty performed their duties and they earned their exemptions," said Sora.

Awestruck by her decision beyond disbelief, Jessie looked at Sora as if to tell her that she was making the wrong decision. But she kept quiet and only begrudgingly nodded her head to Sora's response, not wanting to scare Sora into doing something she didn't want. After all, she did kind of like Sora, especially since she was the _only_ person who took the effort to know her.

"They elected me as the leader, and I've to deal with this responsibly." Sora explained to both Jessie and Yamaki, although it seemed more like she was also trying to explain to herself, "I can't do it, Yamaki."

"Alright," said Yamaki, nodding approvingly. "Kasumi and Kenji will get to keep their exemption, thanks to you. Congratulations for adding another $5,000 into the pot."

**POT: $37,000/$70,000**

Soon afterwards, the players were having a chatty dinner right before their first execution quiz. Not coincidentally enough, the two players with an exemption were also the most talkative players around the table. Misty and Tracey were involved with conversations everywhere, content to be excluded from the heated pressure around the table. They didn't know that their exemptions were put at risk only minutes ago, and they were lucky to be still exempt because of Sora's kindness.

"In a few moments, you'll be taking your first execution quiz. Ten questions about the Mole. The player who scores the lowest will be executed from the game," said Yamaki, slowly arriving at dining table where all the players were at. "Before the quiz though, I'd like to inform you that your leader Sora had added an additional $5,000 in order to keep both Kasumi and Kenji's exemptions intact. She had the power to remove one of your exemptions, but she refused this tempting offer."

"Thank goodness I still have my exemption." Tracey sighed in relief before sinking his seat to avoid more leers and sneers from the other players.

"I'm really thankful that Sora decided to let me keep my exemption, but it seems suspicious that she would let such an opportunity slip away," admitted Misty, having her own unique take on Sora's decision. "May be she is just _that_ nice, but I think it may not be as much as of a heroic move than a strategic move to hinder suspicion."

After the announcement, the players returned to their conversations, although the mood was visibly more subdued. They finally came to realize that one unlucky person would be executed tonight, and everybody hoped to that it wouldn't be them taking the walk of shame – everybody except for one person. Sitting quietly in her seat and eating very little from her plate, Jeri still appeared shaken up by her challenge loss earlier today.

"I was such a letdown at the challenge," Jeri said uncomfortably to the cameras, "But Jessie should have tried harder to convince me; she didn't prove a strong case to me."

But deep inside, Jeri knew she messed up the challenge. Although nobody said a word about it – they all knew that she was sensitive about the loss – she believed that the others were all insulting her behind her back.

"I don't want to be underestimated," said Jeri sternly. "I know everybody thinks I'm no more than just a little girl at this point, but I want to prove them wrong. I want to be given the chance to prove them that I could win challenges. I am NOT a liability."

But it was only minutes away from the first quiz, and Jeri Katou didn't believe at all that she would survive the execution.

- - -

In individual rooms of CN Tower, eight of the players were now taking their first execution quiz on a computer.

Jeri Katou swiftly scanned the first question on her computer screen: _What gender is the Mole? _She clicked **Female**.

"I've my doubts about Jessie. She cheats, she lies, and she sabotages. Her past record as a Team Rocket member is too much to ignore. Her actual occupation in real life fits perfectly into what the Mole is supposed to do in this game."

Gary Oak clicked _Did not participate_ in challenge for question number four.

"I play this game by looking in places where other players may have overlooked. For example, Misty sabotaged the second challenge by lying in order to win an exemption. If she would've played along and confessed that she didn't have the money in her journal, we would've won that challenge effortlessly. And then there was Jeri, who was either naïve or the Mole to actually believe Misty's story. The two of them definitely top my suspicion list."

Sora Takenouchi clicked **No** for question number seven.

"Can I trust Matt? He might cuddle with me and assure me otherwise, but I should know better than to trust somebody in this game. I can't trust anybody and it scares me how close I am to Matt. My boyfriend could be the Mole, and I'll come off as the duped girlfriend who didn't have a clue."

Ash Ketchum moved his cursor between **Yes** and **No** for question number seven before finally clicking **Yes**.

"I only know some of the players for a day, and that's not enough time to form a judgment about a person, let alone the Mole! So I'm going with my gut on this whole first quiz."

Matt Ishida's hand was running through his blonde spiked hair as he read the eighth question of the quiz: _Did the Mole act as a navigator in the "Lost in Toronto" challenge?_

"Tracey was where the problem originated in our first challenge. It might've been disguised as a selfish action to take the exemption and therefore abandoning the money. Sacrificing money for the exemption could possibly be cover-ups for Mole sabotages. Thinking about it, it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?"

Jessie's face was resting in her palms in an uninterested manner as she clicks her answer for the final question of the quiz: _Who is the Mole?_

"I've my suspicions early in this game, but I'm a wise enough chick to not put all my eggs in one basket. I'm going to spread my answers out. My goal for the first couple of executions is just merely to survive. As time comes and the numbers narrow down, I'll then start analyzing the remaining players one by one."

- - -

In a single file, the players sat in adjacent seats to each other, facing across a huge monitor and a desk that filled up an empty open area. Yamaki entered, sitting down behind a black desktop on his desk. The so-called grim reaper was about to start his first execution.

"Welcome to your first execution, players. For one of you, your journey ends here. I will randomly begin typing your names into the computer. When your name comes up and if the screen flashes green, you're safe. If the screen flashes red, you're the Mole's first victim."

Yamaki tapped his fingers on the keyboard, eyeing the players and finally targeting one.

"Satoshi."

Ash confidently straightened his posture as he waited for his results to show up on the monitor. Yamaki began typing each letter of his name into the laptop.

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

The screen flashed red.

Ash's eyes blinked at the red monitor screen for a few seconds. He was still waiting for the results to sink slowly into his head. Finally, he grinned stupidly, slowly getting up from his seat.

"Ash, you are the Mole's first victim. You have been executed from the game, please come with me."

He turned around to see the gleeful look on his rival Gary's face, who wore a cheerful smirk and clapping silently to Ash's departure. Ash hated the victory smirk on his face because he had given Gary the satisfaction of gloating and bragging about this victory in the future. Gary had won the short lived battle between the two Pallet Town rivals.

But taking the high road, Ash took his defeat in stride. He shook hands with all of the players, muttering "Good game" to each of them along the way. He singled Gary out of the farewell for obvious reasons. After exchanging long handshakes with Misty and Tracey, Ash waved a final goodbye and walked with Yamaki to the glass elevator.

"To tell you the truth, I'm still waiting for my name to come up!" Kenta laughed nervously to the cameras as he gave his thoughts on Ash in a farewell interview. "But seriously, Ash was awesome. He was somebody I could proudly look up to and say I want to be just like you."

Misty sighed as she slumped into her chair, speechless. Here she was, sitting pretty with an exemption in her hands, knowing that she wouldn't be going anywhere tonight. But she would've never expected the fatal axe to fall on her dear friend Ash instead. Why must fate work this way? She looked at the camera with a remorseful smile.

"This is a wake up call for all of us," said Misty sadly. "It's a competition and someone always has to go first."

- - -

Ash and Yamaki were waiting at the parking lot for the tour bus to arrive. The young Pokemon trainer nodded awkwardly as he shamefully looked at the ground. He knew he wanted to take this defeat like at triumphant and mature loser, but deep inside his ego was still a little bruised. Out of the ten players in this game, he was ejected from the game first. And most of all, his long time rival Gary was still in the game, probably laughing in mockery as he waited here for the bus.

"Anything you'd like to say before you go?" Yamaki asked, sensing the rare silence in the normally talkative Ash.

Ash played around with his baseball cap and finally grinned. He wasn't going to let Gary Oak spoil his night any longer. Gary could laugh all he want inside his miserable world, because Ash was almost confident that his rival will be executed next.

"It was a great experience. I wished I didn't have to get executed first, because I expected it could have been loads of fun," replied Ash.

Hesitating, he didn't want to say this, but Ash felt the need to leave the game with a hint of resentment towards his long time rival.

"Oh, and I'm a better person than Gary will ever be."

The mini tour bus slowly approached the pair, its door mechanically opening. Ash took a deep breath before marching proudly towards the bus.

"Any regrets before leaving?" Yamaki asked.

"I'm a little upset that I am first." Ash admitted, smiling bitterly at the cameras. "And the arrogant Gary is still in the game. But I'll get over it."

"Sorry it had to end this way," said Yamaki apologetically.

"No, no. I had fun while I was here. That's what makes the entire journey worthwhile!" Ash waved his hand dismissively.

"You got to see Niagara Falls and the CN Tower before you leave, eh? Not too shabby," said Yamaki.

"Eh?" Ash made a funny face before walking into the bus.

Yamaki bashfully nodded, watching the bus door closing automatically behind Ash. In a matter of seconds, the tour bus drove away slowly into the lonely streets of Toronto.

**END OF EXECUTION #1**

**Next Episode**: _A Cry for Wolf_  
Straight after their first execution, three players have to participate in a gruesome endurance challenge, where one player takes the opportunity to form multiple coalitions with the women. Will this plan backfire?

**Author's Notes**  
Here's the lengthy introduction to this episode, but I tried my best to fit all of the characters in and build them up. Long gone the script form! Unfortunately, four characters have to be removed from the old series that weren't fitting into the right places: James, Kari, Brock and Rika. It's a case of quality over quantity. The good news is that I'll now have more space to focus on the other characters, so everybody wins?

Review! Review! Review!


	2. Episode 2: A Cry For Wolf

**The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition**

By: Gomamon

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

**Episode 2 – The Biggest Ego**

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon Tamers)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon) _--- EXECUTED FIRST

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon Tamers)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora _(Digimon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

- - -

Sora Takenouchi comfortably rested her head on her boyfriend's broad shoulder. The loving couple found an empty corner for them to hide and cuddle. And they were definitely not shy of displaying public affection – even in front of all those cameras.

"Stop it, Matt!" Sora giggled when Matt started to slobber kisses around her neck. She consciously glanced at a cameraman who was grinning at them. "There are cameras here!"

"Yo, this isn't for kids!" Matt winked mischievously to the cameras. His hand was reaching towards the top button of Sora's pink blouse.

"Matt, I don't want to do anything to embarrass my family." Sora said as she pulled her body away from Matt. She slapped Matt's hand and straightened her blouse.

"Aw, am I embarrassing to you?" Matt asked, pouting a little. "Is that what I am…a very sexy nuisance?"

"Well, no." Sora smiled. She immediately planted her head on her boyfriend's shoulders again.

In a way, Matt was like a security blanket for Sora, because she always felt at ease whenever her handsome boyfriend was around. Sometimes, she really felt like she was the luckiest girl in this world – or at least, Matt did everything he could to make her feel this way. Sora just felt so safe under her boyfriend's tender arms…

May be it was a little _too _safe…

"I really want it to be the two of us in the finals." Matt whispered into Sora's ear. He grabbed onto her hand tightly for reassurance. "We could exchange data after every quiz…"

"How do I know that you're not the Mole?" Sora teased.

Matt didn't reply back. He just wore a wry grin on his prince-like face, which made Sora feel very discomforting. If love could really make a person blind, was she the most oblivious target if Matt Ishida was the Mole?

"I trust Matt wholeheartedly because I do believe that he's not the Mole." Sora revealed in a confessional. "Sometimes, I do have my usual paranoid doubts, but I don't think he's lying to me. He can't be." She smiled sheepishly to the cameras. "If he is, then I may not know him as well as I thought I did."

But even Sora couldn't be one hundred percent certain that Matt was not the Mole. Sora hated this aspect of the game. She hated how this game forced her to become dubious to everyone, even the person who she felt the closest to. A strictly traditional person, Sora normally viewed trust as a very strong foundation to any relationship.

_How could anyone play a game without somebody to trust?_

"Hey, guys!" Yolei shouted in her perky and enthusiastic voice. The purple haired girl suddenly emerged from a hallway. "Yamaki is going to start the next challenge."

"Right now? In the middle of the night?" Sora asked Matt in a whisper. Matt just shrugged.

The couple slowly followed Yolei to meet with the rest of the group. Yamaki wore a little 'you're-wasting-my-time' scowl on his face as the couple arrived.

"Okay, everyone's here!" Yamaki clapped his hands together. "For your next challenge, I need three players who don't want to go back to the hotel tonight."

Jessie's hand shot up in the air instantly. She would tell the cameras that the _real _Jessie came alive during night – or at least that's what she wanted to believe. Misty also raised her hand, hoping to use this night to clear out some of her burdened thoughts. She didn't feel the same since her friend Ash departed at the previous execution. The third volunteer was Matt. He grinned boyishly as he joined Misty and Jessie by Yamaki's side.

"Okay, Riley will be taking the rest of you back to the hotel. The three of you will stay behind with me." Yamaki said as he led the three challenge participants out of the tower through an exit. The trio soon found themselves standing in the empty parking lot at the base of the tower.

Misty wrapped her arms around her shivering body. Even with a thin orange jacket on, she still felt cold as the night wind brushed against her cheeks.

In the middle of the parking lot, there was a black Hummer. Three tiny car alarms were chained to the license plate at the front of the car. Yamaki instructed the three participants to each choose an alarm – and although they looked identical, Jessie made sure she picked the alarm the furthest away from where she was standing. Matt chose the alarm in the middle, so he would be sandwiched between the two women.

"You'll be amazed how many people fly to Canada just so they could stand next to the CN Tower." Yamaki said, smirking impishly. "Tonight, the three of you will have the same opportunity to experience it in this parking lot."

The bullshit detector in Jessie's head was ringing vigorously.

"There are three alarm remotes attached to the car. It's your challenge to stand outside and hold onto the button of your remote until the challenge ends," explained Yamaki. "If you release your finger from the button, a loud alarm may sound, which is the signal of a challenge loss."

A sound clip of the sharp alarm rang for several seconds. Misty winced.

"To keep things interesting, there's no alarm inside one of the car remotes. In another, the alarm will automatically disconnect at two o'clock in the morning. And the third alarm will always be turned on." Yamaki smiled. "If you let go of the button to your remote and the alarm doesn't sound, you haven't lost the challenge yet. Instead, it will unlock the door to your vehicle, and you're allowed to rest inside the car while your team members continue to participate in the challenge."

Matt rubbed his chin slowly.

"It's currently ten o'clock and the challenge will end at four o'clock in the morning. If none of the car alarms is triggered, you'll add $20,000 into the pot." Yamaki looked at each of the three players. "Please press your thumbs on the buttons of your alarm. They'll activate in ten seconds."

The players barely had time to click their thumbs on the grey buttons before Yamaki announced the commencement of the challenge. Yamaki jogged over to where the tour bus was in the parking lot and it drove away. Soon, the three players were left in an empty parking lot, stuck in an uncompromising position as they stood next to the CN Tower.

Jessie sighed loudly. She thought this challenge would involve some wild and crazy activities in a night club or a bar. The idea of standing at this parking lot for six hours didn't appeal to her whatsoever.

"We're going to be standing here all night long," said Misty.

"A one night stand," added Matt with a smirk.

"You know, Ishida. You're only making it dirtier than it sounds like." Jessie laughed, sticking her tongue out at the grinning blonde.

Jessie tried very hard to focus her attention on the dark sky as the time proceeded in the challenge. According to Misty's watch, they were only five minutes into the challenge and her feet were already killing her. May be wearing high heels for this endurance challenge wasn't the best decision, but it was too late for regrets.

Although there were times when Jessie wanted to throw her arms up in the air and yell "This is the most stupid challenge ever", Jessie held on. As long as the three of them didn't let go of the alarm, there's no way it will ring and then, the money would be guaranteed to be added into the pot.

Turning away from another thought of giving up, Jessie suddenly noticed that Matt was staring at her with a grin. His pretty blue eyes were fixed on the aggressive Team Rocket member's face. May be it was her fragmented imagination, but she swore that Matt had gave her a tiny seductive wink.

_What the hell?_

"Matt, the pretty young thing, is almost as conniving as me." Jessie said in her confessional. She didn't know Matt very well yet, but she knew men well enough that he shouldn't be trusted.

The next hour passed by without much conversation. Misty was growing sleepier, but she managed to hang on in this endurance challenge. On the other hand, Jessie couldn't contain her fatigue and agitation inside. Just like typical Jessie fasion, the long haired diva felt the need to voice in her complaint to the world.

"You know, it would totally suck if we're two hours in this challenge and we gave up, what's the point of staying up this entire time?" Jessie asked.

"If that happened, it would be funny." Matt snickered.

Misty sighed.

_No, that wouldn't be funny at all._

- - -

Sora Takenouchi took a tiny sip of tea in the little white mug that she was holding. She sat quietly in a sofa at the hotel lobby, waiting patiently for her boyfriend's return. And although they don't sleep in the same room anyway, Sora had a sleepless night just worrying about Matt's whereabouts. It was twenty three minutes past midnight and surely, he should be returning by now, right?

The brunette always saw herself as a natural worrier. And in this game, where Sora was torn away from her family and friends, she felt more vulnerable than ever. The only person she truly felt safe with was when she's in Matt Ishida's arms.

"I know, I know. It's not healthy to be so reliant on Matt." Sora admitted to the cameras. "But I can't help it. Matt is like…he's like a _part_ of me."

Sora giggled at the cheesiness of her confessional. Although she was often described as mature and responsible for her age, she sometimes acted like an immature little girl going ecstatic over a silly crush.

But in this game of deceit, even the person closest to Sora could turn out to be a big, backstabbing liar. Sora knew about this, but she didn't want to accept the fact. It was too cruel, too heartless, too scary.

"Because it would hurt too much if Matt was the Mole," whispered Sora timidly. She took another sip of tea.

Suddenly, Sora could hear loud footsteps in the desolate lobby. They belonged to the two youngsters Kenta and Jeri, who made a surprising appearance to join Sora on the sofa that she was sitting on.

"Why do we have to wake up so early?" Kenta nagged as he scratched his head.

"Mmm-uh." Jeri agreed.

"It's almost one o'clock!" Sora asked, her motherly instincts kicking in. "Why aren't you both sleeping?"

"Yamaki woke us up," muttered Jeri. "He said there'll be a challenge soon."

"_Another _challenge?" Sora gasped.

"Yeah, we don't believe it either…" Kenta groaned.

In the next ten minutes, the six players gathered at the hotel lobby, still looking dazed and half-asleep. Yolei yawned loudly as she put on her glasses. Gary slumped onto a sofa and closed his eyes, ready to drift back to sleep. On the other hand, Tracey was grinning enthusiastic, gulping down a cup of coffee with ease. Unlike the other players, he seemed very energetic and keen to participate in the next challenge. Even in the midst of the dead night, the Pokemon Watcher carried a positive aura of an eager child. Bright and chipper, he was definitely the most prepared to perform in this challenge.

"Number one rule of the game – don't let the other players catch you off-guard." Tracey explained in a camera confessional, wagging his finger. "You always, _always,_ need to be in mint condition in case of any surprising events. Never, never panic…at least not in front of the other players." He smiled faintly. "Don't let them see you sweat."

Yamaki was the last person to arrive, carrying a black briefcase and a big blocky die in his hands. On each side of the die, there's a headshot of one of the six players printed on it.

"Yamaki, you're an asshole for waking us up in the dead of midnight." Gary said bluntly. Yolei giggled as she nudged Gary playfully in the shoulder.

"I try my best." Yamaki said. He then held up the big white cube in his hand. "I'm going to roll this die and whichever face lands on top will receive an exemption."

Jeri gasped in surprise when the host made his announcement. Tracey also had an intense look in his face, finding it hard to believe that an exemption will purely be given out just due to luck. Yamaki dropped the die on the floor, watching it bounce and roll around until it finally stopped at…Sora Takenouchi's face.

"Congratulations Sora." Yamaki said, handing her the black briefcase that he was holding in his other hand. "You've won an exemption. However…"

"I knew this 'however' was coming!" Sora laughed.

"Your exemption, as well as $30,000 that could be added to the pot, are contained inside that black briefcase." Yamaki explained, pointing to the briefcase. "In order to keep both of these items, you must make sure that your briefcase isn't opened at any time for the next four hours. You may also not enter into any room in this hotel and you may not leave the boundaries around here."

Sora nodded, her grip on the briefcase growing tighter.

"However, the other players will be spending the next four hours trying to steal the briefcase from you." Yamaki said, as Tracey's eyes lit up. "Whoever opens the briefcase will be able to win Sora's exemption."

"What about the money?" Gary asked.

"No money will be added to the pot if the briefcase is opened. There's a numeric lock on the briefcase and the password is 0-2-3. Remember Sora, you can only keep both of the exemption and the money if nobody opens your briefcase." Yamaki said. "For the other players, you can win Sora's exemption if you manage to open the briefcase and take the exemption card inside. However, you may not make any physical contact with Sora or you're instantly disqualified."

"Wait a second…you mean, if we win the exemption, no money will be added to the pot?" Kenta asked.

"Yes." Yamaki nodded.

"Okay." Kenta yawned. "I think it's stupid to do this challenge. Let Sora keep her exemption. I'm going back to my room to sleep. Good night, everyone. Don't try to stay up too late."

_What an idiot! _Gary smirked to himself, nodding his head as if he supported Kenta's decision.

"Interesting…is Kenta confident in who the Mole is or does he feel secure due to some _other _reasons?" Yamaki smiled faintly. "That's something to think about as I leave you for the rest of the night."

As Yamaki and Kenta both departed in separate directions, the remaining players awkwardly remained seated in the hotel lobby, all glancing nervously at Sora's briefcase. Yolei coughed.

"I'm not going to let this briefcase go, guys." Sora said, hugging her briefcase closely with both of her hands. "You might as well go back to your rooms and get a good night sleep."

"That's a great idea." Yolei said, showing no intention of moving away from where she was sitting.

"Look at this." Gary grinned. "Look at the four little mice tugging at the big, fat piece of cheese that you're holding in your arms."

"But the cat isn't about to give it up." Sora smiled.

Jeri sighed softly under her breath. She wasn't actually interested so much in the exemption, but she wanted to watch the interaction between the players in a situation like this. If the Mole was in this group, he or she would have a good chance of tipping their hand in this challenge.

"What's the best way to exploit Sora's weakness, you ask?" Tracey grinned to the cameras in a confessional. "Well, first of all, she's very moralistic – so all I need to do is mention something about fairness and equality, and she'd totally fall for it."

"You know, Sora…" Tracey whispered as he leant in closer to Sora. "Why don't you give us a fair chance at winning this exemption? Hide the briefcase and whoever finds it gets to win the exemption. If nobody finds it, you get to keep it."

"Now why would I want to do that?" Sora asked, putting one hand on her right hip.

"Because you received your exemption by chance," argued Tracey. He waved his hands in the air frantically. "It's only _fair._ You should give us an equal chance to earn it."

"Why would I want to sacrifice $30,000 out of the pot?" Sora asked.

"I think you should give us a _fair chance_ at the exemption," said Tracey, stressing out the words 'fair' and 'chance' with extra emphasis.

Sora smiled sweetly and shook her head. She wasn't going to give up _that _easily. If they wanted to take the exemption away from her, well, they'll have to work for it. _Nuh-uh…ain't gonna happen this time, my friends_. Sora wanted this exemption just as much as the rest of them, and best of all, she had a trump card to defend all of her actions.

"Just go to sleep." Sora said, "I won't let anybody sabotage our chances of adding $30,000 to the pot."

"Damn it, just give it up, girl!" Yolei laughed. "C'mon…"

"Sora, please give us a fair shot at winning this exemption." Tracey said with a quivering voice, almost at the verge of begging.

"I can't help you. I'm sorry, but I've got to keep the money in the pot." Sora shook her head sadly. "It's my duty."

Tracey almost wanted to rip the briefcase from Sora's hands, but he knew that it was against the rules. And since negotiating with Sora was proving to be ineffective, the Pokemon Watcher must learn how to bend the rules. There must be another way to get Sora to leave her briefcase behind. All he needed was one minute – one minute for him to snatch the briefcase and take the exemption.

Likewise, Gary was also thinking in a similar track. He was sketching in his head to create a _huge _distraction inside the hotel. Gary knew he not only needed to divert the attention of Sora, but he also needed to make sure Tracey, Jeri and Yolei doesn't get anywhere near that briefcase either.

Sora took another sip of tea. She scanned the stern faces of her competitors, each of them wearing their best poker faces. She was in the middle of all their attention, and something was telling her that this was going to be a long, _long_ night.

- - -

It was two o'clock and the players were already four hours into the competition. But by now, everybody was already worn down from fatigue. Jessie had found it difficult to even keep her eyelids from drooping down, but she was kept awake by that blistering pain coming from her aching legs.

"This absolutely blows!" Jessie yelled angrily in the parking lot.

"Hold on, Jessie." Misty mumbled. "Don't you dare give up on us now!"

But it was too late. Once Jessie made up her mind, nothing could make any changes.

"That's it, I'm giving up." Jessie said, releasing her car alarm. "I need my beauty sleep, so don't wake me up with that alarm." She climbed into the vehicle and plopped down on a seat for some sleep. "Good night, twerps!"

Misty grumbled angrily, but Matt was relieved that the alarm didn't ring. The challenge was still on and they haven't lost the money yet. Misty didn't really know whether she should be happy or angry that there was no sound of the alarm. She was also tired and she blamed Jessie for quitting in the middle of that.

"Why is it fair that she gets sleep while we do all the labour?" Misty asked.

"Don't give up, Misty-doll." Matt whispered quietly. "We've a fifty-fifty chance of the alarm ringing."

"Two more hours," said the sleepy gym leader. Matt only nodded.

Another hour passed by and Matt Ishida knew this was the right time to make his proposal to a sleepy and confused Misty. He had planned this in advance and now that Jessie was snoozing, it would be time for him to form his newest coalition in the game.

"My first coalition is with Sora, for obvious reasons." Matt said to the cameras, running a hand through his slick golden hair. "I've her wrapped around my fingers and she'd tell me her deepest secrets in a heartbeat."

"My second coalition is with Yolei. I formed one with her at the CN Tower yesterday," continued Matt. "I had to flirt a little, but her whole tough girl persona collapses when she sees a good looking guy. I winked and flutter my eyelids and bam, Yolei is totally in my control."

"My third coalition partner will be Misty." Matt smirked smugly. "And it's going to be harder because I don't know Misty as well as Sora or Yolei, but hell, all women are easy. I think it's going to be piece of cake."

"Hey, Misty?" Matt whispered as he pulled out a chocolate bar from his jacket pocket. "Here, eat this. I didn't want Jessie to be jealous though, so I didn't take it out earlier."

"Thanks!" exclaimed a joyful Misty, munching on the chocolate bar like a hungry squirrel. Then she stopped when common courtesy dawned upon her, "Oh gosh, do you want to split it in half?"

"Nah, I'm not hungry." Matt waved his hand dismissively and Misty smiled, quickly finishing the last bits.

"It tastes _so _delicious! I'm totally energized!" Misty giggled, "Thanks Matt!"

"You know…I like you, Misty. I really do, you are such a nice girl," said Matt, with a charming grin on his face.

"Umm…I like you too, Matt." Misty said uncertainly.

"You know what I think? We'd be great coalition partners together." Matt said. "Don't you agree?"

Misty nodded and smile. She finally caught on to where this conversation was going.

"We should work together in a coalition," said Matt.

"What about Sora?" Misty asked. "Isn't she your girlfriend?"

"It's not like I'm breaking up with her when I'm in a coalition with you, right?" Matt grinned boyishly, running his hand through his hair.

"I don't know, Matt. It might be a bit early to be talking about this kind of stuff," said Misty.

"You never got time to build a coalition with Ash." Matt muttered. "And we both knew how that ended up for him."

Matt knew he had hit a weak spot on Misty. After carefully observing the Cerulean gym leader for the past few hours, he figured that she was still upset over Ash's departure. And this gave him the perfect opportunity to strike and win Misty over by being the _nice_ guy.

_Nice guy._ Matt almost wanted to laugh at the irony.

"I wished I could've made a coalition with him and things might have turned out differently…" Misty muttered. Matt nodded, knowing very well that this was the time to listen and pretend to care.

"You don't want to make the same mistake twice." Matt said, "How about it? We could have a coalition together. Just you and me and nobody else."

"You've got a deal, my friend." Misty finally replied with a soft smile. Matt grinned, patting the girl on the shoulder to reassure her that she made the right choice.

The last hour passed by quickly and Matt told a few jokes to keep things lively. Soon, the tour bus arrived at the parking lot and its horn honked, waking Jessie up from her slumber.

"Did we lose?" She yelled, poking her head out of the window.

"Congratulations, you've won the challenge! You may let go of your alarms now!" Yamaki shouted as he stepped off the bus. Matt and Misty released their remotes and exchanged a friendly hug with each other. Once Misty took her hand off of her button, the car alarm buzzed loudly for a several seconds.

**POT: $57,000/$90,000**

"Get on the bus, you three. You can catch some shut-eye while I drive you guys back to the hotel. After tonight, you deserve to rest."

"Damn right we did." Matt grinned deviously.

And had Jessie not been so tired, she would have seen that devious grin she was always so wary of. What Jessie didn't know was that while she dozed off, Matt Ishida had charmed his way into forming a secret coalition with Misty.

- - -

At the two hour mark, Jeri had to quit the challenge and reluctantly retreat to bed because she was just too tired to stay up so long (and of course, the other players were urging her to leave – she's one less competitor to worry about). Unfortunately for Sora, the other three players were still there. Gary was walking wordlessly around the living room and sometimes, he seemed to have mysteriously disappeared for more than several minutes (but he always came back). Yolei had left once to get a box of nail polish from her room, and she was now sitting in the lobby, applying some of the nail polish on her right hand. Tracey was writing in his journal, but he was occasionally glancing over at Sora, hoping that she had fallen asleep.

"I think it's very telling to see who stayed up so long to win an exemption." Sora said to the cameras. "They didn't intentions of protecting the pot's money like I was. Instead, they were driven by greed, the greed to win an exemption." She frowned. "I think it's very sad that some of the players want to win an exemption so badly that they forgot that they signed up this game to _win_ money."

Sora took a sip of tea out of her white mug. She must have drunk at least five or six cups for the past few hours. Unfortunately, the rules stated that she couldn't go inside a room in the hotel, so she couldn't relief herself in a bathroom. Needless to say, she was growing very agitated with her fellow players.

"It's been three hours. Don't you know when to call it quits?" Sora sighed. "Just give it up. Please, you're making this challenge a lot harder than it needs to be. We shouldn't be turning against each other like this."

Yolei shrugged. She blew on one of her fingernails quietly. Tracey also appeared to be scribbling in his journal, ignoring what Sora just said. Sora sighed again.

"I can't believe you guys," muttered Sora, glaring. "I had higher expectations of you as people."

Gary rolled his eyes.

"If you ask me, Sora is a bit of a sanctimonious cow. For some reason, she thinks she's the better person just because she's keeping money in the pot while we try to win her exemption." Gary confessed in front of the cameras. "I bet that if things are reversed, she would be sitting in the sofa like the rest of us, preying on whoever has the briefcase in their hands." He smirked smugly. "She's not a saint."

Tracey put down his journal and stretched his arm. Sora looked at him hopefully, but nope, he wasn't going to leave. Tracey grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the coffee table and he pulled out a small knife from his pockets. He then used the knife to peel the skin off of his apple.

"I'm going to bed," said Gary suddenly. The others turned to him in delight as they watched the professor make his way up the staircase. "Have fun."

"Aw, gone so soon?" Yolei asked with a mischievous grin.

"Two down, two more to go…" Sora mumbled.

Tracey continued peeling his apple slowly and carefully. He had a plan to steal Sora's briefcase, but he knew he had to find some way to make Yolei leave. So, he lifted his feet and pounded his feet on the coffee table. A nail polish bottle fell onto the carpet and splattered all over Yolei's jeans. Yolei mumbled angrily under her breath as she excused herself to the washroom. Tracey just smiled.

Sora sighed in relief. If only she could get the stubborn Tracey to leave, she might be able to have some rest for the second half of the challenge.

The two of them sat silently for a while. The only sound in the room was Tracey's knife, peeling the skin off of his apple, rapidly and uncertainly.

_Okay, this was it! The die or do moment…_Tracey thought to himself. He knew that if he didn't strike now, he'd never be able to win the exemption.

"SHIT!" Tracey yelled suddenly, dropping his knife and apple to the floor. He wrapped his left hand over his fist and hollered in pain. A few drops of blood were leaking out of his finger and Tracey manoeuvred quickly to cover two packets of ketchup with his right foot.

"Oh my god!" Sora stammered nervously as she looked at Trace's bloody hand. She got up and took her briefcase with her. "I'll get Riley here right now."

"Don't…don't leave me!" Tracey gasped in a mixture of panic and pain. It was almost an Oscar-worthy performance.

A troubled Sora tossed her briefcase to the couch as she ran over to Tracey's side. She leaned over and took a closer look at his 'bleeding' finger.

"How is it?" Sora asked.

"It h-hurts!" Tracey mumbled loudly.

"You need to see Riley," said Sora. She slowly helped Tracey up the sofa as the both walked up the stairs together. "Just hold in the pain, even if it hurts a little."

But before Tracey stomped his foot on the first step of the stair, he ditched Sora and immediately ran back to the couch, where he swooped up the black briefcase from the seat and ran away. Sora gasped, finally realizing that she has been duped.

"That…that lying jerk!" Sora yelled as she started to chase after Tracey. "Come back here, thief!"

Tracey grinned as he dashed quickly into the closest room that he could find. He knew that the rules state Sora couldn't enter into a room, so as soon as he was inside – he was safe from her. In a matter of seconds, he swung open a door and leapt inside. Sora could do nothing more but angrily wait outside the door. She pounded on it angrily and Tracey thought he heard some uncharacteristic cussing coming out of her mouth.

What Sora didn't know was that the room Tracey entered in had two doors, and while Sora was standing by the south entrance, Tracey had already left in the north exit. He was free!

As he looked around at the empty hallway that he was standing in, Tracey decided to stop running and just unlock the briefcase right there and then. He put his briefcase on the ground as he searched around it for the numeric lock. He was so entranced by the prospects of the exemption that he didn't even hear the tiptoes approaching towards him.

And then in one swift motion, a hand suddenly reached out and pulled the briefcase out of Tracey's hands.

Tracey gasped as he looked up to see a dash of purple hair running away. It was Yolei, who just emerged out of the washroom to grab the briefcase out of his hand. She was already running maniacally away from Tracey, her spider-long legs outrunning Tracey quickly and easily.

"Come back here!" Tracey shouted, struggling to catch up to the tall athletic girl. But soon, Yolei was gone with the briefcase, gone with the exemption.

Yolei continued running through the corridors, frantically searching for a room to settle down in. But all of a sudden, the lights went out. Yolei was standing in the middle of complete darkness. She was a minute away from unlocking the briefcase to win an exemption, but coincidentally enough, the power of the hotel shut down at the most critical moment.

Or was it really a coincidence?

Without light, Yolei had no way of finding the lock on the briefcase and solve it. She slowly moved around in the darkness, trying to find her way to a lamp or a window, but neither was in her reach. She then saw a dim light source at a distance room, and a thankful Yolei immediately ran towards it. But as she arrived, she was suddenly ambushed by Gary's tackle, knocking the tall girl on the ground. He pinned her by her arms as he kicked the briefcase away. By the time Yolei got back to her feet, Gary was already gone.

"Son of a bitch!" Yolei laughed. "He…he sabotaged the power!"

Chuckling quietly to himself, Gary whipped out his flashlight from his pockets to shine the light upon the black briefcase. He had prepared all of the essential tools for a blackout of course, since he was the person who sneaked into the basement and turned off all of the power in hotel (with permission from a security guard who's very easy to bribe).

"It's brilliant! It's ingenious! I know, I know." Gary proudly said to the cameras.

He flicked the first notch of the lock to "zero" and the second notch to "four" and the last notch to "three". He tried to pull open the briefcase, but it stayed locked.

"Crap, what's the password?" He muttered.

He swiftly tried through different combinations, adjusting the last digit one by one. After numerous tries, a frustrated Gary started to lose his cool. After going through all of the trouble to turn off the power and stealing the briefcase from Yolei, he had forgotten three simple digits that will unlock an exemption.

"Think! Think!" Gary muttered to himself. "It was zero something…"

Gary quickly went and turned the notches to 000 and worked his way up the numbers one by one.

0-0-1…unsuccessful…

0-0-2…unsuccessful…

0-0-3…un-

"Gotchya!" Sora exclaimed.

Gary shook a little as Sora grabbed the flashlight out of his hand. He then saw Sora, folding her arms across her chest in triumph. Immediately, she snatched the briefcase that he was holding in his hand.

"I thought I'd never find the briefcase unopened, but I did! I got lucky _again_." Sora laughed.

The young professor cursed at his briefcase and the power went on again. As the corridors lit up, Yolei was running towards the two of them, laughing girlishly.

"Why did you take the briefcase away from me when you can't open it anyway?" Yolei playfully stuck her tongue out, leaning her arm against Gary's shoulder. Gary frowned without giving a reply. He wasn't keen on admitting his defeat, especially not to someone as _eccentric _as Yolei.

"Nobody wins at the end." Sora smiled sweetly as she walked away. "You should've slept instead of wasting all these hours for nothing."

"She's right. C'mon, let's go." Yolei yawned. After an exchange of goodnights, Yolei and Gary both retreated up the stairs and walked back into their rooms. Sora sat at the hotel lobby again, content with being in possession of the briefcase once more. She glanced at the clock and was happy that there would only be ten minutes left in the challenge. She was confident she could make through this challenge without any problems.

As she sat back down at the couch in the lobby, she finally saw the squashed packet of ketchup that Tracey had dropped on the floor. Sora shook her head and laughed. How could she have been fooled so easily by his over-the-top act?

Suddenly, she heard a cell-phone ring.

This was the first time she noticed that there was a black mobile phone lying on the coffee table. And it was ringing. She let it ring for a few times, but it didn't stop. Whoever was calling, it was directed for her.

"May be it's Yamaki…" Sora said to herself as she picked up the phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"OH MY GOD! THIS IS AWFUL, SORA!"

Sora was definitely spooked. She recognized that voice. It belonged to Misty, but she didn't sound at ease at all.

"What's wrong, Misty?" Sora asked, immediately jumping into bad conclusions. "Nothing happened, right?"

"We…" Misty seemed to be stammering her words. "We…got into a car accident. Jessie's leg is bleeding like hell and…M-m-matt…"

"Matt what?" Sora screamed into the phone.

"I think Matt might be dead…" Misty said ominously.

From her initial shock, Sora let her guard down and dropped her briefcase. It was only for a few brief seconds, but Tracey managed to leap out of nowhere and grabbed the briefcase from the floor. Reacting quickly, Sora dropped the phone and chased after Tracey, who was unlocking the briefcase as he ran away.

It was too late. Tracey had successfully opened the briefcase when Sora finally caught up to him. The Pokemon Watcher grinned as he looked at the words printed on a green card: _exemption_. He had won an exemption again.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I knew it would work!" Tracey smiled gleefully as he turned towards Sora, hoping that she would share his joy. But she didn't look thrilled at all, in fact, the colour was just beginning to return back to Sora's pale, ill-struck face.

She looked at the Pokemon Watcher, too stunned for words. The phone call that happened a minute almost seemed surreal. Misty's cries for help echoed hollowly in her head. _Matt is dead, Matt is dead._ Hearing those cruel words were enough to catch Sora off of her guard.

Sora finally knew what was going on. It was a hoax – a cruel, tasteless hoax manufactured by Tracey Sketchit to fool her into leaving her briefcase behind.

Apparently, she was duped by the boy who had cried wolf, again.

- - -

Misty put down Yamaki's cell phone after putting a heck of a performance. She had an uneasy smile on her face as Matt chuckled softly.

"Who called you?" Matt asked with his eyebrows raised.

"I'm not really sure." Misty shrugged, totally oblivious to how her words did to trigger an event at the hotel. "Tracey told me to say those lines as if it was real. He said something about how it's a part of a challenge or something."

"I hope we won that challenge," said Matt with wishful thinking.

As the trio drifted back to sleep, they didn't wake up again until they finally arrive back at the hotel after a long, long ride.

"Wake up, we're at the hotel." Yamaki announced monotonously. Misty and Jessie slowly woke up, but Matt was still sleeping (and snoring) with his mouth wide open.

"You've won $20,000 in the endurance challenge," said Yamaki, holding up two fingers in his left hand. "But unfortunately, your team members at the hotel failed to add $30,000 into the pot." He held up three fingers in his right hand for emphasis.

**POT: $57,000/$120,000**

"Now, I'll give you another chance to add money into the pot." Yamaki said slyly, "You'll not be heading back to the hotel just yet."

"Damn it!" Jessie shouted angrily and shook the slumbering Matt in her arms.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!"

"You'll need to complete this challenge before you're allowed to leave the car and walk into that hotel." Yamaki explained. "This challenge is worth $10,000."

Matt dropped his head into his lap and tried to sleep again, but Misty elbowed the blonde to keep him awake.

"All you need to do is figure out which of the six players at the hotel won an exemption," said Yamaki.

"Bullshit!" Jessie yelled in an irritated tone of voice. "One of them got an exemption!"

"Yes and you'll stay on this bus until you give me an answer." Yamaki said. He pulled out his mobile phone and handed it over to Misty. "The six players are informed about this challenge and they may choose to call and assist you. If anybody calls, you may ask them a yes or no question."

"It's six in the morning." Matt muttered sleepily. "Will any of them actually wake up this early just to make a phone call to us?"

"More importantly, are we ever going to eat breakfast? I'm starving!" Jessie wrinkled her nose.

"Not until you finish the challenge," replied Yamaki.

"To hell with the challenge!" Jessie tossed her arms in the air. "Let's just randomly pick a name and go back into the hotel!"

"There's $10,000 at stake." Misty said, shaking her head. "We've to treat this seriously."

"But we don't even know if any of them are going to call us! We may have to wait five more damn hours before any of them calls us!" Jessie argued. "This isn't worth it!"

"Why don't we wait for ten minutes?" Matt suggested. "If nobody calls, we'll make a crazy guess and go back to the hotel and sleep."

"I don't want to wait!" Jessie nagged.

"We already waited for five hours, so stop complaining!" Misty complained, quickly losing her temper. "It won't kill you to wait ten more minutes!"

Jessie just glared at her.

"Jessie acts like a diva." Misty said in a confessional, sticking her tongue out in disgust. "Ugh, she dropped out of the endurance challenge and now she wanted to sabotage this guessing game. I think her prissiness might be a way of sabotaging challenges."

A few minutes passed in the car with no action. Matt had once again fallen back to sleep, only to jerk awake again when the phone finally rang. Misty answered it instantly.

"Hello?" She asked hopefully into the receiver.

"Good morning, Misty!" Tracey chirped in his enthusiastic voice. His spirits were still high after winning the exemption from last night.

"Oh, Tracey." Misty mumbled. "Uh…right. Did you receive an exemption in that challenge thingy?"

"Yes!" Tracey exclaimed. That was good enough of an answer to satisfy Misty, so she quickly said goodbye to the Pokemon Watcher and turned off the phone.

"So, what did he say?" Matt asked as the petite girl ended the conversation with Tracey over the phone.

Misty looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face. There was an awkward pause that sent shivers down Matt's spine. Just when he thought he had the Cerulean gym leader all figured out, she does something like this to make him all confused again. Misty just blinked at Matt vacantly, giving no reply.

_Why isn't she answering me right away? _Matt asked himself in his head. _What is she hiding?_

That one brief pause was able to send Matt into the pits of paranoia. Although he didn't show it on his handsome face, Matt Ishida was already having doubts about his newest coalition partner. What if he made a coalition with the Mole?

"Yeah," Misty smiled and nodded her head, giving no reason for the lengthiness of her pause. "It was Tracey who won the exemption."

"Congratulations." Yamaki said. "You've just added $10,000 into the pot."

**POT: $67,000/$130,000**

"You may go now," said Yamaki in his boring, monotonous voice. "There'll be no further challenges today, so get some rest and a clear mind before the execution quiz."

"I'm really surprised at Misty's moment of hesitation in the car. She looked like she was having second thoughts about winning this challenge." Matt confessed in the cameras before he went to sleep. "All she needed to do was say yes, but she took forever to utter that word out. I…I don't know." He raised his eyebrow. "It doesn't make any sense. All I know is, Misty is one shady girl and I've got to keep my eye on her."

- - -

While Misty and Jessie slept through lunch, Matt was just too hungry to skip another meal. As he sat inside the restaurant with five of the six players who participated in the other challenge, he demanded somebody give him the rundown of what went on.

"How the hell did Tracey win another exemption?" Matt asked, getting straight to the point.

"Don't even get me started on him!" Yolei exclaimed angrily. "I can't believe he'd do such a thing to Sora! I don't know how you could be so calm, girl. If I were in Sora's shoes, I'd be so upset!"

"It was pretty low, even for Tracey," admitted Sora, resting her head on Matt's shoulder.

"Toying around with another person's emotions is the lowest thing you could do," said Gary, shaking his head in disgust. All of the players seemed to agree with him.

"Why did Misty agree with the plan anyway?" Gary asked.

"Misty said that she didn't know. Tracey just told her to say those lines on the phone, but she didn't know what his intentions are," said Matt.

But the pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together in his head. What if Misty had lied and actually knew that Tracey was going to sabotage a challenge? What if the Mole was an accomplice to Tracey's horrible plan? Matt sighed. Oh great, there was even more evidence to support his doubt against his newest coalition partner. What did Matt get himself into?

"We should give Tracey a piece of our minds." Gary joked. "If he's too chicken to eat lunch with the rest of us, then surely, he has something to hide."

"Aw man!" Kenta suddenly exclaimed as he pulled out a tiny red gadget from his pockets. "I forgot to return this to Ash last night!"

"What's that?" Jeri asked, leaning forward to inspect the item that Kenta held in his hand.

"It's like…a thing?" Kenta tried to explain. He snorted in laughter. "I don't really know, but it's really awesome."

"It's a Pokedex," corrected Gary. Being the only person from the Pokemon cast to attend lunch, he smiled at the confused expressions that the others gave him. "It's a device that identifies different species of Pokemon."

"Oh, so it's like a Digivice! I get it!" Yolei explained, snapping her fingers. The other players began to nod in comprehension.

"You know, the Pokemon world sounds _so_ awesome." Kenta said, grinning. "I'd like to be a Pokemon Trainer just like Ash if I had the chance."

"Hey everyone, what's your dream occupation?" Matt asked.

"I haven't decided yet, but the future looks bright for me!" Yolei laughed, flipping her long purple hair behind shoulder. "Computer engineering, perhaps?"

"You're going to be a homemaker," said Kenta.

Sora, Matt and Yolei all laughed in unison. Yolei was snorting milk out of her nose after she heard what Kenta just said.

"Okay, that was _hilarious_." Matt laughed, pounding his fist on the table. He leaned forward and gave Kenta a pat on the shoulder.

"Good one, Kenta!" Yolei snickered. She almost had to gasp for air to utter each word. "Can you imagine _me_ being a housewife? That'd be the day!"

"That's almost as absurd as saying that Matt is going to be astronaut twenty five years later!" Sora giggled.

"I know!" Yolei tried to control her laughter. "I've aspirations to fulfill and dreams to launch into! Settling down for a family is the last thing in my priority list!"

Kenta and Jeri exchanged nervous glances at each other while Yolei and Matt continued to laugh. Some things might be better off untold.

After lunch, the other players scrambled around, trying to collect their notes before their execution quiz. However, Yolei sat by an empty table in the restaurant, seemingly fixed in a dazed trance. She held a purple glitter pen in her hand as she scribbled across the pages of her journal.

_Yolei Oak._

_Mrs. Yolei Oak._

_Mrs. Yolei Oak Inoue._

She sighed dreamily as she scribbled her signature all over the page in big, bubbly, flowery letters. At the corner of the page, there was a little cartoon picture of Gary and Yolei holding hands together, with Yolei dressed in a wedding dress. The picture was surrounded by floating hearts.

"What are you drawing?" Misty asked, poking her head over Yolei's shoulder nosily. She had just woken up and was eating lunch, while Yolei was there to accompany her.

"Nothing, nothing." Yolei smiled vaguely, closing up her journal. But Misty had already caught a large portion of what was drawn on the page. "I was just daydreaming, it's my favourite activity."

"You're smitten with Gary." Misty sighed, making a face. "I don't get it, what's so attractive about him?"

"It's hard to describe." Yolei grinned impishly. She put her finger at the tip of her chin. "He's…he's just _perfecto_, you know what I mean?"

"Not really," laughed Misty. "I don't think Gary loves anyone except himself."

"But unrequited love is the most romantic kind of love!" Yolei sighed dreamily, fiddling around with her pen. "One day, I'll get through him. One day."

"You only know him for two days though," said Misty. "Why are you so head over heels for this punk?"

"Love works in mysterious ways," said Yolei vaguely.

"It's a train wreck watching Yolei develop this huge crush on Gary. I've no idea why, but we all know that Gary isn't sharing those same feelings." Misty sadly admitted to the cameras in her confessional. She knew it would kill her new friend if she heard these words, but it was true. "I don't know what she sees in him, but she loves him to death apparently. She's ready to have his babies."

Misty wore a concerned look on her face.

"I really like Yolei, so it hurts me to see her get her heart crushed. She's a fun, energetic girl and she deserves way better than that egomaniac Gary. But it's not my place to judge. However, I don't think Yolei is playing a serious game. She seems to be more interested in finding a boyfriend in this game rather than the Mole." She paused for a moment. "That is, unless she doesn't need to worry about the same things as the rest of us, because she _is _the Mole."

- - -

The players are sequestered in individual rooms while they took their second execution quiz on a computer – ten questions about the identity of the Mole.

Jessie moved her mouse cursor speedily through a list of answers in the second question.

"I do doubt some of the decisions that Sora makes in the game. How naïve would someone be to fall for one of Tracey's lame pranks? If I was in her shoes, I'd never lose that briefcase. And then I look back at the crazy decisions she made last time and I'm thinking – either this girl is delusional or she is the Mole."

Sora Takenouchi clicked **No** to the fourth question: _Did the Mole receive an exemption in this game?_

"My mind is playing all types of tricks on me. I want to trust Matt with all of my heart and I want to believe that he isn't playing me like a violin. But I'm paranoid. I see him…flirting with some of the other women, and I get a bit insecure. I can't trust him. I may be looking for love in all the wrong places."

Gary Oak wore a sly smirk on his face as he read the fifth question: _What challenge did the Mole participate in?_

"Kenta didn't even try in the briefcase challenge. I don't know if he was being a poor sport or if there is something else up his sleeves. After all, who needs an exemption when you're the Mole, right? You know, these young kids aren't as innocent as one would be inclined to think. They could be very, very deceitful."

Misty Waterflower was answering the eighth question of her quiz. She paused for a brief moment before she clicked on the last answer in the list.

"Coming into this quiz, I'm just overwhelmed with all the choices. My brain thinks that Jessie is the Mole, because she's responsible for so many sabotages so far…but my gut thinks it's Yolei. She is smarter than what she lets herself appear to be. She must be hiding something behind that optimistic smile and bubbly personality. Now the big question: is it Jessie or is it Yolei?"

Matt Ishida licked his lips as he answered the final question: _Who is the Mole?_

"I don't care who gets executed as long as it isn't me."

- - -

In the hotel lobby, the nine players sat on individual armchairs, looking across at the huge monitor that would mark the death of another player's journey. Yamaki soon appeared, dressed in his gloomy black suit.

"Welcome to your second execution, players. For one of you, your journey must end here. I'll randomly begin typing your names in the computer. When your name comes up and the screen flashes green, you're safe. But if the screen turns red, you're unfortunately the Mole's second victim."

The scruffy blonde sat behind a desk with his fingers on the keyboard.

"Shigeru."

Gary slouched in a lazy posture in his chair. He looked smugly at the monitor, as if daring it to flash red.

S H I G E R U

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

The screen flashed green.

A cocky smirk formed on his face, as Gary chuckled coldly under his breath. He carried so much confidence in his abilities that he didn't expect to be executed tonight at all. This came as no surprise.

"Kasumi."

Misty sat nervously in her armchair. Her hands were gripping tightly around her knees.

K A S U M I

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

The screen flashed green.

She smiled softly as she released her tight grip on her knees in silent joy.

"Juri."

The petite girl smiled weakly at the host. She trembled slightly, not knowing what to expect from the monitor.

J U R I

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

The screen flashed green.

"Miyako."

Yolei grinned confidently. She brushed a few strands of purple hair away from her glasses.

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

The screen flashed green.

Yolei sighed in relief and then she turned around to watch the other players' reactions.

"Sora."

Matt, who sat beside Sora, reached over to hold onto his girlfriend's hand as her name was being typed in.

S O R A

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

The screen flashed red.

Sora gently smiled at the monitor, accepting her fate. Matt instantly let go of her hand in a mixture of guilty relief and genuine disappointment.

"Sora, you're the Mole's second victim. You've been executed from the game, please follow me."

Showing admirable sportsmanship, Sora stood up and embraced Matt in a long hug and a longer kiss. The blonde whispered sweet nothings into his girlfriend's ear, causing her to giggle softly. She then gave a quick round of hugs and handshakes amongst the players before she picked up her bag and followed Yamaki out the door.

It was a sad moment for the players, especially for Yolei who began to sniffle. She never thought she'd get emotional over an execution ceremony, but even her usual optimistic grin was starting to fade away from her face.

"Sora is the mother figure of the group. I couldn't thank her enough for the morale support that she added to the group. She's so warm and considerate to everyone. It tugged my heart to see her leave."

Tracey cast his eyes guilty at the floor, ignoring Yolei's emotional ramblings from behind. When he snatched the briefcase from Sora, it indirectly led her into losing in this execution. He realized how he just managed to cause one of the sweetest people to lose in this game. But Tracey didn't feel an ounce of remorse. No, he was only putting his head down so that the others wouldn't see the coy smile on his face. Inside, he was celebrating that he now had an one in eight shot of winning this game. Out of politeness, Tracey just kept his head down as he gave his farewell confessional.

"She was a great leader who put others before her. I respect this wonderful woman with all my heart. I know this group wouldn't be the same without her."

Finally, Tracey looked up to the cameras. A half-genuine smile was slowly replacing the disloyal smile on his face.

"I hope you forgive me."

- - -

The mini tour bus arrived in front of Sora's feet. Her head was held high in the air and a weak smile was spread across her face. Sora had accepted her loss with an unsurprising amount of maturity and class. She always had an admirable mark of sportsmanship that many players praised about her. Losing this game didn't mean the end of the world for her. It was always just a game and she had always planned to walk out of it with her dignity wholesomely intact. Fortunately, she managed to accomplish her goal.

"I'm glad it's me." Sora said, "I think I'd be more upset if somebody else was leaving. They're all remarkable people and I wouldn't want to see anybody else go."

"Even Kenji?" Yamaki baited.

"Yes, even him." She laughed. "I don't care what you say, Tracey is a sweetheart. I think he's just misunderstood by some."

"Are you going to miss your boyfriend?"

"Yes." Sora nodded. "I feel this game is straining our relationship though, so I can't wait to visit Toronto with him again, when we are away from the cameras and the pressures of this game."

A rare smile crept across Yamaki's stern face.

"Did you regret losing the exemption today?"

"Yeah." Sora laughed. "It probably would have brought me more time in the game, but there's no point of crying over spilt milk."

"I'm glad you enjoyed this experience." Yamaki said courteously. "We'll miss you."

Yamaki planted a polite kiss on Sora's left hand before she climbed onto the bus, carrying a poignant smile on her face. The bus doors closed as the vehicle slowly drove away, eventually vanishing into the lonely streets of Toronto.

**END OF EXECUTION #2**

**Author's Notes**   
Thank you to the reviewers, and let me just say that I'm very happy (and surprised!) to learn that people have read and liked the original Mole series. I'm gloating in pride right now, hehe. As for the new format, I really do hope readers will adjust to it as time goes. I know it is different in fluency, clarity and other aspects, and it is hard to adjust, but I'll try my best to make reading this story as enjoyable as possible. Keep reviewing (and guessing who the Mole is!) 

Hidden clues are still subtly in every chapter. It's up to the observant eye to find them… 


	3. Episode 3: Two Worlds

**The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition**

By: Gomamon

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

** Episode 3 – Two Worlds**

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon 02) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon 01) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon 03) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FIRST

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon 03)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ --- ** STILL STANDING**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora_ (Digimon 01) _ --- EXECUTED SECOND

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon) _ --- **STILL STANDING**

_ For the full length of this story, visit my website!_

* * *

The cameras loved Matt Ishida.

They loved his movie-star handsome looks. They loved his charming personality. They loved the confident swagger that he carried when he walked. But most of all, there was this unidentifiable magnetism that drew everybody's attention to this blonde bombshell. Matt Ishida loved every single bit of attention focused on him.

"It never hurts to have a striking girlfriend by your side, so yeah, I'm going to miss Sora." Matt confessed to the camera, wearing a toothy grin. Only minutes after his sugary girlfriend Sora was escorted out of the game, but this blonde's mood were in especially high spirits nevertheless.

"Of course...this also means I'm available again, ladies. I'm a bachelor now!" Matt let out a hearty laugh, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

From the superficial point of view, it might seem like the sleazy Matt loved women, and it was his ultimate _challenge_ to make them head over heels for him. But he had other intentions. By using his irresistible charm to manipulate the ladies, Matt could juice any information from these gullible women with just a wink and a kiss. Yolei and Misty were already under his charming spell, feeding him valuable knowledge that would aid him in getting far in the game.

Everything was going accordingly to Matt Ishida's plans.

The next day, Matt arrived at breakfast shirtless, in pursuit of impressing the ladies with his broad shoulders, glistening chest and firm muscles. The women responded with awestruck fascination, as he had predicted.

"Put on a shirt, damn it!" Jessie said, half-laughing as she brushed past Matt to her seat. Three steps later, she turned her head around to take another glance at his backside, licking her lips.

"I think the Mole needs to be someone who is charming, slick and has the ability to manipulate any situation he is in," Jessie confessed in front of the cameras, while reapplying her lipstick as if it was a mirror, "Matt Ishida fits into all the categories like a glove. Do you see how he flutters his eyelids and suddenly he becomes the most charming guy in the world? Matt is very good at manipulating people like that. Hell, he can sabotage every challenge and all the girls will think he is flirting with them."

Although the overconfident teen would never admit it to a camera, Gary was definitely envious. However, he also realized that his roommate Matt's antics were causing strong dynamics within the group. And whenever there's trouble, Gary Oak was always ready to stir the pot.

"Now I know that Matt is using his sex appeal intentionally." The young professor confessed, "He is playing them all like a violin with his mind games. I think it's a brilliant plan. He is a clever player, somebody I am able to relate to intellectually. I'm looking forward to working with this beneficial ally."

Earlier today, Gary was able to corner Matt in their room for a private and critical conversation. Gary closed the windows and pulled in the curtains, and then locked the room door. His roommate Matt was sitting at the edge of a bed, somewhat amused at how cautious Gary acted.

"If I didn't know better…I would've thought that you're trying to hit on me," Matt chuckled.

"Oh shut up. Your sex appeal means nothing to me." Gary rolled his eyes, smirking smugly.

"So what is this about?"

"I would like to work with you in a final two coalition," replied Gary. His crooked mouth curled with a vindictive scowl, almost like it was warning Matt that he had every reason not to trust him.

"Sure, it's a deal," Matt answered with no hesitation. The more coalitions the merrier! Matt didn't expect to work with a man at this stage of the game, but it's a coalition that Matt was very willing to participate in nonetheless.

A smug grin plastered across Gary's face, his face muscles relaxed a little. The pair of new allies exchanged handshakes, confirming their partnership. Soon Gary made his departure from, leaving Matt sitting on his bed and rubbing his chin in thought. 

He figured that Gary was a strong competitor, and it would be better to make a friend than an enemy in him. But he had a lot of words to express about this newly formed coalition, and as usual, the actor wannabe immediately jumped to the nearest cameraman for some more air time.

"I don't trust Gary as far as I could throw him, but just like I did with my other allies, I could manipulate Gary to my benefit. Believe me, that kid isn't that smart. I'll just keep feeding his big ego until he self-destructs, which will bound to happen very soon after I'm through with him."

Matt laughed, brushing his hand through his golden hair. Like many others in the game, he did not have kind words for the young professor from Pallet Town. Sure, he definitely got along with Gary, but it doesn't mean that he actually liked to hang around with the guy.

"Gary and I might be similar in some aspects, but I'm only pretending to be cocky and vain to get far in the game. Gary on the other hand...well, we all know what type of person Gary is by now. Let me just say that his arrogance is _not_ an act."

* * *

"Good morning, Yamaki," chirped Matt in a singsong tone, pulling out a chair and joining the group for breakfast. Yamaki only nodded at his direction, finding the blonde to be unusually cheerful. If anything, he expected Matt to be crying under his blankets and longing dreadfully over Sora.

"You are in a happy mood today." Jessie took the words from Yamaki's mouth.

"Aren't I always? May you pass me the sugar please, Jeri?"

Despite the can of sugar being evidently closer to Matt than Jeri, she made the extra effort to stand up and offer it into Matt's hands. 

"Thanks, doll face."

The little girl's face flushed like a strawberry as she returned to her seat, forking her waffle pieces repetitively.

"It's not like that! I mean, he has a girlfriend, you know," Jeri exclaimed in her girly voice when the producer asked her if she had a crush on Matt. It was a subject that made Jeri blush in denial.

"Besides, you have Takato, right?" added a producer standing behind the cameraman. That caused Jeri to laugh briefly, and refused to comment on the topic any longer.

Near the end of the breakfast, Matt was entertaining the entire group with some jokes. His hands were swinging animatedly, and his mouth moving mechanically. Everybody's attention was drawn to the young charismatic blonde.

"And then he said, 'Hands down? I thought you said _pants_ down!'" The others roared in hysterical laughter. Even Yamaki had to break out of character to chuckle. _That Ishida kid is pretty charming._

Yamaki quickly recovered though, and feeling the need to pull the concentration on him again.

"It is time for our next challenge."

Some of the players groaned, even though this means they'll be adding potential money into the pot.

"I'm going to introduce the neutralizer, which prevents players from winnin exemptions for one round. The effect will last until the end of an execution." Tracey coughed in shock. "Every time the neutralizer is used, $5,000 is added into the pot. I have four neutralizers right now, any takers?"

The players looked at each other in silence. None of them were committed to the idea of giving up an exemption.

"If you volunteer to be neutralized, I will add $5,000 into your lonely pot."

"Don't everybody go volunteer all at once!" Yolei joked, grinning. A few laughed under their breaths, but nobody dared to speak or volunteer.

"I think Tracey should be neutralized. He already has two exemptions," said Gary finally, breaking the ice. Other players mumbled in agreement.

"I'm not giving up my exemption, never." Tracey shook his head, strongly opposing against the idea.

"It's like talking to a mule," Gary rolled his eyes. "I think anybody who had exemptions before should be neutralized."

"It's only fair," Jeri protested meekly.

"Damn straight," said Jessie, folding her arms.

"I'll do it."

Tracey turned his head in astonishment at the brave soul who spoke those foolish words. It belonged to Yolei, who selflessly sacrificed her safety to add money into the pot. Of course she did, he should have known. As smart as Yolei may sometimes be, she does tend to do a lot of stupid things.

"I'll get neutralized too," muttered Kenta. The chain reaction continued and Misty also volunteered as well in time.

"That's $15,000 into the pot out of a potential twenty. I still have one more neutralizer left."

"Tracey-"

"NO!" Tracey sprang up from his seat in anger, "I will not give up my exemption for you folks!"

"But you don't have an exemption as of now." Kenta untimely reminded the hot headed Pokemon Watcher.

"I would have expected it coming from someone as selfish as you," mocked Gary, igniting Tracey's anger like a vivid fuse.

"I'm not selfish! I'm just looking out for myself!"

"I'd like to nickname Tracey as the exemption hog," said Gary. While Tracey was growing redder in the face as he argued a losing battle, Gary remained cool as a cucumber through the process. 

"Whatever. I don't need to argue with you." Tracey thumped down in his seat, pounding his fist threateningly on to the table.

"Hey, I'm not the bad guy here." Gary shrugged as he looked at the rest of table with an innocent face.

"If you are such the wannabe hero that you act to be, then why don't _you_ volunteer to be neutralized!?"

"I never received an exemption, unlike you, with two."

"This has got nothing to do with my two exemptions!"

"Oh yes it does."

"NO!"

"Guys, guys, settle down, don't lose your cool," said Yolei. She was talking to Tracey half-heartedly. Then the bubbly purple haired girl dreamily snuck a peek at Gary, who smirked in conceited delight. _Perfecto! He looks so hot like that._

"And the final verdict?" Yamaki asked.

"No."

"Okay then," Yamaki smiled at the fireworks he had been watching between Tracey and Gary, "$15,000 is added into the pot in the result of neutralizing Kasumi, Kenta and Miyako. The three of you will not be eligible to win an exemption this round."

**POT: $82,000/$150,000**

The eight players gathered around the lobby again for a challenge meeting with Yamaki. He was holding his trusty black little laptop in his hands. Riley and several producers were setting up behind him.

"I need two ambassadors for the game we'll be playing next, one from each series."

After exchanging several ideas, the group decided to select Jessie and Yolei as their ambassadors.

"You are divided into two groups. Ambassador Musashi will lead a team of Juri, Kenta and Yamato to the Pokemon World. Ambassdor Miyako will take her team of Shigeru, Kenji and Kasumi to the Digital World."

The announcement triggered delightful cheers from the group, and then everybody erupted into excited cheers. Kenta was the most thrilled of them all.

"Ambassadors," continued Yamaki, his voice drained from all the overlapping conversations, "Your job for now is to show the foeigners about your world. Do a good job and you'll be greatly rewarded."

"You'll have to wear these blindfolds while traveling the dimensions of the portal. We don't want to leak out any of life's great mysteries," Riley said quietly while she passed everybody tiny blindfolds.

"Awesome…" Kenta grinned as he awkwardly tied the red blindfold over his little eyes.

"Okay. I'll now bring Miyako's team to the Digital World…"

* * *

Misty groaned as she rubbed her sore back after a harsh but painless landing. As she stumbled to stand up, she realized she was sitting on Yamaki's back. Slowly taking off her blindfold, Misty smiled when she slowly scanned the colourful baby digimon and digieggs that surrounded her.

"My, my, my. I've been expecting some visitors."

Misty swiftly turned around, trying to find the origin of the mysterious voice. It came from none other than the great man of the Digital World. Short and bald, the old tiny man chuckled as he approached the group.

"Players, I'd like you to meet somebody." Yamaki smiled as the host got up to his feet, brushing the dust off his expensive suit.

"Genaii?" Yolei looked at the old man in confusion. The last time she saw the mighty figure, he was a very handsome young Jedi-like man. Did Genaii really age that quickly?

"Welcome to my world," Genaii grinned. He bent down and picked up a flower, giving it to Tracey. "Don't be troubled, my friend. The Digital World is a great place to clear your thoughts up."

Tracey looked up at Genaii in surprise and awkwardly thanked the man for his present. He held the fragile flower with great care. Genaii nodded and then turned back to the rest of the group.

"This is Primary Village and you will select your starter here," said Genaii.

"Starters?" That sparked an interest in Tracey as he asked enthusiastically, "Like Charmander?"

"Charmander? What in heavens is that!?" Genaii raised an eyebrow.

"Um sir," Misty raised her hand and asked, "Can you tell us what challenge we are going to do here exactly?"

"During these twenty four yours, your task is to destroy four digimon that had been possessed by a dark spiral attached to some part of their bodies," Yamaki said, "The four of you will need to locate these digimon spread all over the map and destro the dark spirals. For every dark spiral you destroy, you will add $10,000 to the pot." 

"Very impressive," said Genaii, nodding his head and smiling.

"Also at the end, your teacher will then reward one of the battlers with an exemption based on their overall performance. So therefore he will be traveling with you over your journey, but will not be able to give any advice."

"Perfecto!" Yolei grinned, clapping softly to herself.

"So take your pick," Genaii smiled, swooping up a little digiegg in his egg from the ground.

"Aww, they are all so cute!" Misty squealed in delight as she kneeled down to play with a few of the habitats. As she does so, some of the other baby digimon started to crowd around her, making her easily the most popular person in the village already.

"If you are into talking heads…" Gary made a face at the infant digimon. He tried very hard not to step on one of them before picking up a pink bobblehead-like digimon.

"Hi, I'm Koromon!" The digimon in Gary's hand said. Out of surprise, Gary almost dropped the digimon to the floor, but Genaii dashed forward and caught it. He carefully handed it back to Gary.

"Be careful, my comrade. Digimon are beings too," Genaii's squinty eyes tried to meet with Gary's to get the message across. The teenager nodded and then uncomfortably shifted his eyes to inspect Koromon thoroughly as if it was a test subject.

"Poromon!" Yolei exclaimed in joy as she picked up a legless pink bird from the floor. This was the pre-evolved form of Hawkmon, her best buddy in the digital world. And although this was not the same digital partner, Yolei felt satisfied in the new replacement.

"I'll pick Motimon," Tracey gently wrapping up a pink blob with his hand and bringing it in front of his face.

"And I'll take Tokomon," Misty smiled, as her petit digital partner rested happily on her shoulder. All the infant digimon groaned as Misty stated her choice and quickly dispersed all over the village again.

"Okay, we're all set!" Yamaki said, "It's time for me to go send the other group to the Pokemon World. Be ready for some heated battles!"

* * *

Jessie was the first person to arrive through the portal and curiously glanced around the dull walls and bookcases. This brightly lit room brought familiar memories to the Team Rocket member, for it was not too long ago when she first stepped into this place. A tall skinny man wearing a long white lab coat walked past her, neglecting her presence since he was so deeply absorbed into the thick book that he was holding. Agitated at the ignorance, Jessie ripped the book out of his hands, revealing the unhealthy looking Professor Elm.

"Whoa! Trespassers!" The lanky professor screamed in fright, reaching for the phone to call Officer Jenny.

"No, professor!" Yamaki leaped up from the floor to stop Professor Elm from dialing the number, "We are from the Mole game, remember?"

Professor Elm tapped his finger to his head, trying to remember about the meeting. While the other players looked on in disbelief to his blank face, the professor finally nodded and smile.

"I remember now. I'm supposed to give you each a starter pokemon right?"

"I want a Pikachu!" cried Kenta.

"Uh...no, I'm afraid I don't have Kanto pokemon here," Professor Elm gave him a weak smile, "I only have Cyndaquil, Totodile and Chikorita."

"Chikorita sounds like a sassy name," Matt said, pulling out the green pokeball from Professor Elm's hand.

"I guess I'll take Cyndaquil," said Jeri, politely taking the standard red pokeball.

"And I'll pick Totodile!" said Kenta a little too loudly.

"I have a special pokemon for you, Musashi." Yamaki grinned slyly, taking out a pokeball from his pocket and releasing it. The lovable Seviper popped out and hissed.

"Seviper!" Jessie cried out in joy. The snake-like pokemon hissed, and Jeri timidly retreated to hide behind Matt, horrified at the sight of a large hissing snake. Kenta could only grin in astonishment at his first sight of an actual Pokemon.

"For your challenge, you will need to face a one-on-one Pokemon battle against four gym leaders tomorrow. If any of you win against a gym leader, you will add $25,000 into the pot. In addition, I will add $5,000 for every victory a foreigner took on, which excludes Musashi."

Jessie nodded her head and retreating Seviper with her pokeball. In her mind, this battle was going to be a piece of cake. In fact, it would almost be too suspicious if she had actually failed, given that she was so experienced in Pokemon and all…

_Which gives me all the reason in the world to fail…_ thought Jessie as a vile smile faintly appeared on her face.

"Also, the professor will have the power to give one of you an exemption. But he can only give it to the players who won their battles. If nobody wins, then the abassador will receive it."

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" The tall and lanky professor laughed, patting Yamaki on the back, "I have all the power for the next twenty four hours."

"That's right, and I must get going…" said Yamaki before quickly disappearing into the portal.

"You have received your starters…so go out and get some battling experience. If your pokemon ever faint, then come back and I'll recover it. Oh, and here are some Pokeballs…" Professor Elm said, searching his lab coat for some pokeballs.

"Pokeballs? Are these like Pokemon eggs?" Jeri asked.

"No, no. They are the items that carry Pokemon around," explained Kenta.

"I'm impressed!" Professor Elm said, raising an eyebrow at the enthusiastic child. He then handed each trainer six pokeballs. "Now go out and catch some Pokemon!"

Kenta grinned as he marched out of the lab, gloating in silent pride. For possibly the first time in his life, the humble little boy who liked to hide behind others was finally leading the way.

* * *

Tracey Sketchit sat under the blissful shade of a tree, quietly sketching a picture of his digital partner Tokomon. Like a musician playing the piano, the hands of this Pokemon Watcher moved gracefully across the paper, sketching with great accuracy and care.

"The Digital World is…" Tracey paused at the cameras, trying to find the right word, "…serene. I have never seen a more beautiful place like it. And the digimon are all so unique. They all have so much spunk and personality that I instantly fell in love with them. It's a great place here."

Deep down, Tracey was a pretty nice guy. In front of Professor Oak, he presented himself as a polite, courteous and pleasant young man who was eager to learn. But unfortunately the Pokemon Watcher got off the wrong start at the game that led him to the wrong situations in the game.

"I didn't like arguing with Gary this morning," Tracey said uncomfortably as if it was a sensitive topic to talk about, "I was never a fan of confrontation, but unfortunately that is the one thing that feeds to Gary's huge ego. I guess he is so insecure that he can only feel better about himself by trashing other people" 

Tracey rolled his eyes at his archrival from Pallet Town. It was actually the first negative comment Tracey ever said about anybody in the game. Even though everybody resented the Watcher in the game, Tracey actually liked most of them. Even Matt was charismatic and charming enough to not get on Tracey's bad side. After all, Tracey was a very tolerant person and very easy to get along outside of the game. But it was Gary who turned Tracey against the whole group. It was also Gary who ensured that he doesn't get off the hook at anything. And it was Gary again and again who made the social aspect of the game a living nightmare for Tracey.

"I have been trying so hard to be friendly with everybody, but it's just so damn hard when everybody hates my guts. I'm like the plague that everybody wants to avoid." Tracey sighed, frustrated with how he gotten into this situation, "For some reason, Gary hates me. I think he is still angry with me for taking the exemption on the first day. If there is anything that punk is good at, he is damn fine at holding a sissy grudge."

Gary just reached a new low this morning after Sora's execution: he managed to convince the entire group to give Tracey the cold shoulder. Nobody had yet to speak a single word today to the Pokemon Watcher. Only Misty would occasionally glance at Tracey with sympathetic eyes for a few seconds before turning away. And frankly, he was sick of this all. 

"How does it feel to be the most hated person in the whole damn game? How does it feel when nobody even wants to talk to you?" Tracey mock laughed, rolling his eyes again. "You know what? They could keep playing their childish games with me because it isn't going to affect me one bit. At the end of the game, I only have two words I want to say to these people."

Tracey grinned vindictively, as his gentle side faded away from the cameras. The game is on again.

"Screw YOU."

* * *

"Where is Jessie? She is supposed to be the ambassador and lead us around the place!" asked Jeri, folding her arms in irritation.

"This is getting out of hand. We are in the middle of this Newbark Town with no direction at all," Matt added, feeling the same helplessness as his teammate.

"This is _awesome!_" Kenta shouted merrily. Oblivious to his teammates' concerned, Kenta was having fun running around back and forth through the grass fields to find more Pokemon. Right now, he was chasing a tiny Sentret around.

"I've never seen Kenta this enthusiastic about anything before," Jeri said to Matt, still smiling, "He is usually very laid back about stuff like this."

"I personally don't see what is so fun catching these pets," Matt sighed as he threw his pokeball up into the air. He caught it with ease.

"Ash was really good at this though, right?" asked Jeri, feeling slightly intimidated talking to Matt.

"Forget Pokemon." Matt waved his hand dismissively, "I want to talk about something else."

"Uh…like what?"

"Like a coalition…between you and me."

Jeri swallowed at the proposal from the dashing blonde. Was she dreaming? Was this actually real?

"Of course!" said Jeri too quickly, not thinking twice before accepting his proposal.

"Perfect. I needed a new coalition partner since Sora left, you know." Matt winked at her. 

"Thanks Matt," Jeri blushed softly, finding a place on the floor to look at.

"I'm glad we could work together…but keep this a secret between the two of us, okay?" Matt Ishida grinned, adding another coalition partner into his long list. _Oh this is too easy. _

Without replying back, Jeri Katou turned to watch her friend Kenta who was making a loud commotion from a distance in the grass fields. He clutched a pokeball in his right hand and then began waving his arms maniacally while jumping up and down like a monkey. Just watching him getting excited was enough to bring a sincere smile to Jeri's face.

"I caught an Abra, guys! Did you guys see it!? I caught my first pokemon!!!"

* * *

Gary, Yolei, Misty and Genaii gathered around a table in Digitamamon's Chinese restaurant, ignoring the fact that their fourth teammate Tracey was not present. Gary had just spent the last hour figuring out the exact location of each digimon, impressing both Yolei and Misty immensely.

"According to the map, I think the first digimon with the dark spiral is nearby this restaurant," Gary said after carefully analyzing a map of the digital world.

"That's great! We could battle it after we finish with lunch!" Misty exclaimed.

"I don't really know how to train these things though, man." Gary said, looking at Koromon with indifference.

"Hey! We aren't things! We're digital monsters!" Koromon corrected, glaring angrily at Gary.

"May be they could earn some experience if we did battling…I don't know," suggested Misty, scratching her head.

"Lenient battling. Digimon are not soldiers but warriors of peace," said Yolei, trying to sound like a professional ambassador. Instead, she just came off as the goofy happy-go-lucky schoolgirl she had portrayed herself.

"That sounds like a lot of bullshit to me," Gary laughed.

Misty frowned at the harshness of Gary's words. But like always, Yolei wore a pleasant smile on her face, seemingly oblivious to Gary's snide remarks. _Why can't you wake up and smell the coffee, Yolei? He is an asshole!_

"I know! You're so right about that!" Yolei giggled, putting her hand on Gary's shoulder playfully with a hint of flirting. Gary didn't say anything, but had an uncomfortable look on his face.

"I'm sorry but I just can't get excited about raising some digi-"

_ CRRRAAAACCCKKK_

At the other side of the restaurant, a green horrid-looking digimon was striking the walls with a huge white club in its hand. There was a dark metal ring attached to the neck of the digimon.

"It's Ogremon," said Genaii in a calm tone. While the other players jumped out of their seats in panic, he seemed unnerved by the appearance of the wild digimon.

"Attack it in the neck!" Gary yelled, pointing at the dark spiral.

"WHAAAA?" Koromon screamed in panic. The newborn infant was not custom to battling on command.

"Just attack it!"

"Bubble blow!" Koromon spitted a small bubble at Ogremon's neck, but the black ring remained intact. Ogremon turned around to see the direction of the attack, finally noticing the group for the first time.

"Ahhhh," Ogremon grunted, "Ogremon likes to have company!"

"It's under a dark spiral! It has no control, so watch out!" Yolei warned, clutching Poromon close to her chest. Although she had been in this scenario for many times, she was still not adjusted to battling. It was always the goggle-head leader Davis who led the battle. Yolei never had to step up to the frontline like now than contribute from the sidelines.

"Do something, Koromon!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

Ogremon stomped its way to the group now, as they backed up to a corner of the restaurant. The green ogre passed and ignored Genaii, targeting the three trembling heroes and their in-training digimon. It smiled deviously, swinging the huge white club in its hand in front of their worrisome faces. Ogremon pointed a green crooked finger mere inches from Gary's face.

"I think I'll kill you first."

At that moment, Koromon jumped up from a table in surprise, knocking the white club from Ogremon's hand to the floor. While the three players scrambled away, Koromon began to glow in a white light and slowly digivolved to Agumon, the tiny orange dinosaur. 

"Koromon digivolve to…Agumon!"

"You're dead!" Ogremon said, bending down to retrieve its white club.

"Pepper breath!" Agumon blasted a small orange fireball at Ogremon's neck. The ring is catching on fire.

"That's it, Agumon! Keep attacking it!" Gary said, clasping his hands together.

Meanwhile Ogremon, obviously not the smartest digimon in the digital world, began whacking itself with the club to extinguish the fire. Agumon continued to blast multiple attacks to its neck, until the ring is burnt to ashes.

"Perfecto!" Yolei boosted her fist in triumph as she watched the battle from a distance. Ogremon began to stumble its way to the exit of the restaurant.

"Don't let it get away!" Gary commanded, and Agumon continued to shoot numerous fireballs at Ogremon, weakly dragging itself to the door. It didn't even have enough strength to counter the attacks. Finally after a dozen of consistent attacks, the green ogre collapsed onto the floor unconscious.

The group quietly got up and left the restaurant, leaving the bare body of Ogremon lying eagle-spread and helplessly on the floor.

* * *

In the Pokemon World, the trio is slowly coping with the Pokemon World with the absence of their ambassador Jessie. Kenta was cheerfully leading the way of the journey, presenting more confidence than ever before. Jeri was walking pleasantly beside him, absorbing in the beautiful scenery and cuddling to a Marill in her hands. Matt trailed behind, juggling two pokeballs in his hand.

"It's getting late, we should be heading to a Pokemon Center and rest," said Matt. Traveling with two kids has their drawbacks, after all Matt didn't want to be the person responsible for missing their curfews.

"Aw c'mon! We're just getting at the good part! There are exclusive Pokemon that only appears at night!" Kenta protested.

"We need to eat dinner, Kenta. Our Pokemon must be hungry." Jeri giggled, nudging his friend in the shoulder.

"Alright," Kenta groaned and turned to the direction of the nearest Pokemon Center in Goldenrod City.

Meanwhile in the digital world, the ferocious digital saviors were trekking through a dense forest. Agumon and Gary led the way of course, keeping a cautious eye for any unsuspecting predators. Misty and Yolei giggled as they continued their girlish gossip from behind, while Genaii trailed the group silently, keeping mental notes in his head.

"There's the second dark spiral!" Yolei whispered loudly, pointing at a gigantic orange bug hovering above them. There was a dark ring wrapped around its sharp scissor-like claw.

"We aren't being noticed yet. Let's attack the digimon in stealth," Gary whispered back to Yolei. In curiosity, Misty looked up to see what caused all the quiet commotion to Gary and Yolei. She instantly regretted the action as she caught sight of Kawagamon.

"BUGGGGGGG!"

"Oh shit! Scram!" Gary mumbled, running with Agumon to hide in a nearby bush. Kawagamon dove down from the air, flapping its scissor-like claw and missing Gary's head by mere inches.

"Nova blast!" Agumon blasted its fireball attack, but Kawagamon easily dodged it in the air.

"Poromon, you have to digivolve to Hawkmon. You can attack it in the air! Can you do it?" Yolei whispered to her digital partner.

"I hope I can." And the pink bird squinted, tightening all the muscles on its body as it began to glow... "Poromon digivolve to…Hawkmon!"

"Buzz Saw!" The red hawk flew up to the sky, swiftly slashing the ring on Kawagamon's claw with its own razor-sharp claws. While it made a scratch to the ring, it did not destroy the dark spiral at all.

"Yolei, keep distracting Kawagamon while Agumon goes for the kill," Gary whispered.

"Hawkmon! Fly around Kawagamon in circles!"

"Pepper breath!" Agumon sent another fireball attack at Kawagamon. The bug digimon was too busy chasing the agile Hawkmon in the air, leaving it completely open to Agumon's attack. It groaned in pain as it slowly elevated to the ground, trying to escape from Agumon and Hawkmon.

"Keep going! Keep going!" Gary shouted eagerly, pointing his finger at where Kawagamon is.

"Pepper breath!"

The first fireball attack delivered hit Kawagamon in the neck and the digimon wailed in agony at the burn. But the dark spiral still did not break.

"Pepper breath!"

The second attack hit the bug digimon at the same spot, finally removing the dark spiral off Kawagamon.

"Pepper breath!"

The third attack hit Kawagamon's body, destroying it into tiny digital fragments into the air…

* * *

After a quick dinner and rebelling against Matt's restrictions, Kenta was search for more Pokemon under the setting sun. With a pokeball in his sweating hand, he never felt more alive in his whole life. For anybody who knew Kenta closely, they would definitely consider this to be an out-of-character moment.

One personality trait that Kenta always took pride in was being uncompetitive. And he soon found out that his laidback attitude was making him a sore thumb out of the aggressive players in this game. Even his friend Jeri was vicious at the right occasions. But Kenta didn't care about winning or losing, because he hated to compete, which was pretty ironic considering the game he is playing.

"Not everyone could be the hero, because someone must clap for the heroes in the sidelines." said Kenta in a confessional. He thought it was a noble sacrifice on his part to lose in order to let somebody else win. 

Along with his slacker personality, Kenta was also incredibly thick-skinned too. People may make fun of him that he wasn't taking the game seriously, but Kenta was content to be one of the few people here who can honestly admit they were here for the experience.

By the third day of the game, Kenta mastered an under-the-radar strategy to perfection. He managed to convince many players to dismiss and basically forget about the quiet player known as Kenta. It wasn't too difficult of course. He was a very forgettable person.

"I bet they don't even consider me an option for the Mole. They always underestimate me," said Kenta in blatant mockery. He didn't really mind the lack of respect he got from the other players. He didn't come here to worry about what other people thought of him. Sorry, but that just isn't Kenta Kitagawa's style.

At eleven o'clock, little Kenta was simply ecstatic when he entered the Pokemon Center. It was past the curfew that Matt had set on him, but he had a giddy feeling that would make him sleepless for the entire night. He had a legible reason to be happy too. After all, how often does a newcomer to Pokemon win their first Pokemon battle AND catch a Totodile in the wild? It was a good time to be Kenta Kitagawa.

"Too bad we don't get to keep these pokemon. At least they return to their natural habitats," Kenta whispered to the cameras with a hint of remorse in his trailing voice. His head peaked up again when he caught a glimpse of Jeri walking toward her room.

"Hey Jeri," Kenta said, with a humble little smile on his round face. His glasses drooped down his nose like always. He resembled a little lost dog without a home, "Where's Matt?"

"I last saw him talking with Nurse Joy," Jeri giggled, covering her mouth, "I think he entered into her office without a shirt an hour ago. He hadn't come out ever since."

"How does he always get the ladies?" Kenta said in exaggerated exasperation. He turned to Jeri and they both shared a jovial laugh.

"You finished catching Pokemon?" Jeri asked, still clutching Marill close to her heart. She was already in her pajamas, ready to retreat to her bedroom and call it a night.

"Yeah. Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure!" Jeri's voice was cheery as she studied Kenta's smiling face. Although they knew each other the best in this game, the two youngsters were hardly close to each other.

"I was wondering," Kenta stammered, with little confidence in his shaky voice, "If you wanted to share notes with me before the next quiz."

"Like a coalition?"

"Yeah."

"That'd be nice, Kenta. I'm glad you asked," Jeri smiled sweetly. She still fondly remembered the coalition she formed with Matt earlier. But surely it wouldn't hurt to have another one with Kenta. Besides, seeing Kenta's dopey face, it would crush his already low self-esteem to deny the offer. Jeri didn't have the heart to say no.

"So who do you think the Mole is?" Kenta asked.

Jeri was a little thrown off with the question. She actually didn't expect Kenta to be so upfront. She always thought Kenta was going to talk in circles until he came to the point. She was definitely not prepared for this.

"Uh…Jessie. She is a Team Rocket member and you know, stuff like that. What do you think?"

"I think it's Gary," Kenta said, sounding confident for the first time, "He sabotaged so many challenges, yet he got off the blame from all of it. I'll talk to you about that later."

"Hey Kenta," Jeri called for her friend, stopping him midway in his tracks, "Do you know if Marill likes to have a bath before battles?"

"Tell you what…why don't I give you this pokedex? I learned a lot from it. I'm sure it will help you too," said Kenta, taking Ash's pokedex from his knapsack and hand it to Jeri.

"Thanks." Jeri courteously thanked her friend, and then slowly watched him leave. She smiled faintly to the cameras, putting the pokedex in her pocket.

"There is something different about Kenta. Either some Pokemon aliens abducted him or something about this trip gave him new motivation," Jeri said, "The old Kenta will never start a coalition with me, he definitely changed. Whatever it is, I think his new attitude in this game makes him very suspicious for the Mole. It's almost like he is a completely new person, or may be he is just revealing his identity as the Mole."

Meanwhile in the digital world, the third heated battle was taking place. Once again, Gary took center stage in battling their opponent while Yolei and Misty were just standing by their side, watching the battle with awe. Hawkmon would sometimes contribute to the battle, but it was Agumon who stole the show.

"Agumon digivolve to…Greymon!"

"Nova Blast!"

A huge fire orb escaped from the masked dinosaur's mouth, destroying the dark spiral on Seadramon in one direct hit.

"Finish it off!" Gary sneered, growing too comfortably confident at Greymon's strength.

"Nova Blast!" And the deadly attack sent Seadramon into total obliteration

"We only have one more dark spiral to go!" Yolei merrily announced, wrapping Gary and Misty in a short embrace.

"Do you think we should worry where Tracey is? He was gone for all three battles…He could be seriously injured," asked Misty.

"Nah, he'll be fine." Gary grinned and gave Agumon a pat on the head as it rejoined the group again.

"I don't think we are being cruel to Tracey. He deserved everything that is happening to him right now." Gary said casually to the cameras in a private confessional, "Had he not been too greedy and hogged all the exemptions, he wouldn't be unanimously hated by the entire group."

With an arrogant smirk and a careful selection of words, Gary continued,

"Tracey is an excellent candidate for the Mole. I think he is my biggest threat in the game, believe it or not. He is a great observer of details, data oriented and very analytical. With those credentials, it would be a waste to put him as a player because he obviously can't win against me. So I think the producers assigned Tracey as the Mole to give me a little challenge in the game. Right now, I'm testing him to see if he can handle the pressure like any good Mole would. If Tracey doesn't buckle and lose his composure, then I know he is the Mole. I'm still not too sure yet."

* * *

Kenta stared out of the bedroom window from the gym arena. It was an optimistically sunny day with a comforting cool breeze brushing against his face. From a distance, Kenta could see a flock of Pidgeys frolicking in the clear blue sky.

It was the day of the $40,000 battle.

Kenta can sense it. It was going to be a good day.

"Where's Jessie?" Yamaki asked, looking impatiently at his watch.

"I don't know. She abandoned us since she arrived," replied Matt.

The Team Rocket member finally arrived twenty minutes later, waving her hand and slowly approaching the group with her diva mannerism.

"Sorry guys, I was trying to find James and Meowth, but I didn't know where they were."

"You were looking for your friends!?" Jeri said with utter disbelief.

"Yeah, yeah. I actually _have_ friends, missy," Jessie's lips curled up to a smile.

"Okay. You'll be fighting individual battles against four predetermined gym leaders of the Johto regin. If any of you win the battle, you will add $25,000 into the pot. If Kasumi, Juri or Kenta win their battles, they will also add $5,000 into the pot," said Yamaki.

"Let's get the first battle started!" Professor Elm said, "The first one-on-one battle is between Matt and Whitney of Goldenrod City!"

The bubbly gym leader skipped over to the arena, almost tripping over her shoelaces carelessly. Her pink cuddly Clefairy stopped her fall, and Whitney laughed as she walked over to join Matt in the battle.

"Let's hope you're not that much of a klutz in battling!" Matt teased, running a hand through his golden blonde hair. His Growlithe barked in a parallel mockery.

"Begin!"

"Ember!" Matt commanded. His loyal orange canine partner leaped and sent a blazing fire attack at the seemingly harmless Clefairy.

"Dodge it! Then give Growlithe a doubleslap!"

Clefairy dodged the flame easily, and then smacked Growlithe powerfully with its little pudgy arms. Growlithe didn't even have a chance to counter back.

"Flamethrower, Growlithe!" Growlithe opened its mouth and shot Clefairy a dominant ray of fire. Clefairy tried to dodge it, but its hand was severely scorned by the flame.

"Are you okay, Clefairy?" Whitney asked.

"Clefairy!"

"Great! Try Meternome!"

"Cleeeeefffffaaaarrrrreeeee" The little pink Clefairy dosed Growlithe with the attack Water Gun, spitting a strong stream of water at the dog. Growlithe shivered as it tried to shake the water off its fur.

"Finish it with a Pound attack, Clefairy!"

The final blow was enough to cause an unguarded Growlithe to collapse onto the ground unconscious.

"Growlithe is unable to battle! Whitney is the winner!" Professor Oak announced.

"Good battle, I underestimated you," Matt grinned as he called Growlithe into retreat with his pokeball.

"Don't they always overlook the pretty ones?" Whitney winked, and then walked back into the sidelines.

"Next battle…Jeri against Brock from Pewter Town!"

Little Jeri bowed down courteously before battle, sending her petite Marill against the massive Onix.

"You have a type advantage, Jeri. Use it effectively!" Kenta shouted.

"Begin!"

"Uh…" Jeri scanned her pokedex for the weaknesses of Onix, "Marill, try Bubblebeam?"

Marill shot a weak beam of bubbles at Onix. Despite the type disadvantage, the attack seemed to do no damage to the mighty rock snake.

"Onix, slam against Marill with your tail!"

Onix flexed its stony tail against the blue round pokemon, delivering a fatal blow to the pokemon and not even giving it a chance to escape. Marill squealed in pain as it landed near Jeri's feet.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright Marill?"

"Maaarill…" Marill tried to get up with every last bit of energy. But it fainted instead.

"Marill is unable to battle! Brock is the winner!"

Jeri scrunched her eyebrows as she leant down and gently picked up her water pokemon. It was almost embarrassing when she saw the final results. She was defeated effortlessly with one attack, even when she had the type advantage. Instead of using it effectively, Jeri completely flopped at the battle. Heck, it wasn't even a close battle. All Onix needed to do is move its tail and Marill instantly fainted.

"Battling isn't my forte, I guess," Jeri smiled weakly. Matt gave her an apologetic pat on the back.

"If it makes you feel any better, at least you didn't get your ass kicked by a ditz who dyed her hair pink," Matt grinned, causing Jeri and Kenta to giggle in fits of laughter. It was a Matt specialty, he was able to manipulate a tragedy and turn it into a comedy.

"Our next battle…Kenta against Bugsy of Azalea Town!"

Kenta inhaled a deep breath before looking up at his purple haired opponent. After a landslide defeat from both Matt and Jeri, Kenta had every reason to doubt a victory right now. Usually Kenta would be shaking in his boots nervously in a situation like this, especially with so much pressure on him. But it was different this time. The boy felt total ease at the arena as if it was his domain. He almost felt like Ash for a second.

He could sense it. It was going to be a good day.

* * *

"Electro Shocker!"

Kabuterimon sent a purplish glowing orb was shot at the dark spiral around Meramon's wrist. The fourth and final dark spiral was destroyed.

Standing at the base of a volcano, Tracey greeted his digital partner Tentomon in his hand. After an intense training yesterday, he was able to push his digital partner outside of his comfort zone and digivolve into a champion form. Unfortunately, he had no reason to exercise his new power until now.

"Should we just let him go?" Tentomon asked Tracey, watching Meramon hiking up the volcano in a distance.

"Yeah, he won't do any harm."

"I wonder where Yolei and the others are…perhaps they destroyed the other three dark spirals? Cross your fingers?" Tentomon asked.

"I have no idea. They pretty much ditched me to go on their own adventure, don't you think?"

A few minutes later, Genaii and the rest of his gang emerged to meet with Tracey.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Tracey asked. Yolei only smiled at him sweetly without a reply, and Gary was staring at him with a bitter vengeance. 

_At least they are acknowledging my existence now. That's a start._ Tracey thought, smiling faintly to himself.

It was Genaii who broke the ice between the players, "Congratulations, you have destroyed all four dark spirals…meaning that you have added $40,000 into the pot!"

**POT: $122,000/$190,000**

"And I will now present one of you an exemption. Since Misty and Yolei are both neutralized, they are not eligible to win the exemption."

Gary nodded and patted Yolei in fake sympathy. In his mind, Gary was confident that he would win the exemption. Sure, Tracey contributed to the challenge by destroying one dark spiral at the end of the game. But it was Gary who came off as the real victor. He was the one who managed to destroy not one, not two, but THREE dark spirals. It was a number that would obviously put his opponent's number in shame. And most of all, he already won two exemptions, while Gary had none 

Tracey smiled softly. Unlike Gary, he saw this fight for exemption to be a fifty-fifty chance. He hoped Genaii would not dismiss his hard efforts into the challenge. He didn't believe in the statistics or the three to one ratio presented. Tracey never saw how Gary deserved this exemption more than him. It was an equal battle in his eyes.

Finally Genaii rose from his seat at the benches. He didn't smile at any of them. He only glared angrily as he shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak, preparing to say some of the most shocking words one of these boys will ever hear.

"That was the biggest disgrace I have ever seen in my hundreds of years of life. I am very disappointed."

Gary blinked at Genaii, looking confused. He turned to watch Tracey, who reacted with equal confusion. Why was Genaii saying all these unkind words?

"If battling was a sport, then you had horrible sportsmanship," Genaii was looking at Gary as he uttered these unfriendly words to the young professor from Pallet Town. Gary was still looking surprised and baffled, not truly absorbing the words in from his mentor.

Genaii paused, his eyes burning passively. Tears seemed to be forming at the corners of his tiny eyes.

"But then you continued. You left no mercy to your opponents. There was no point in destroying Kawagamon or Seadramon after the dark spirals were destroyed, but yet you did it for the thrill of killing. When Ogremon was down, you have to give it one final kick just to make sure it would never be up. The number one thing to battling is mercy. Not knowing when to stop a battle is the number one error. Because of that, I cannot forgive you and reward you with an exemption, Gary."

Yolei and Misty looked stunned. Neither of these girls had been seeing the battle from Genaii's point of view. What they thought was a dramatic end to the battle turned out to be so ugly and inhumane from Genaii's words.

"So congratulations, I reward Tracey with the exemption," Genaii finally smiled at the Pokemon Watcher. Tracey wasn't sure how to react, but he clumsily smiled and firmly shook hands with Genaii.

"Thank you…"

Gary bit his lips and stomped away coldly as Yamaki continued to utter some final words. He couldn't hear anything. His mind was scrambled with a mixture of fury and confusion. No, how could this have happened? It was supposed to be HIS exemption. Genaii wasn't making any sense. Why did he give it to Tracey, who had done nothing in battle!? Gary Oak won that exemption fair and square, but why can't the short old man see it?

And then he turned around to see Tracey's gleeful smile. Gary loathed that moment. Tracey had just won his third exemption. It was his third goddamn exemption already in this game! He never took a single quiz yet in the game! Most of all, it was the exemption that belonged to Gary! It was rightfully his!

_ Why does he always get lucky every time? Why is he rewarded for sabotaging challenges? Why!?_

At that moment, Gary swore to make sure Tracey's remaining time in the game as miserable as possible.

* * *

He could feel the oily sweat clinging onto the skin of his forehead. While he used a tightly clutched fist to wipe the sweat, he shifted his eyes everywhere around the room, his eyeballs intensely bulging almost to a point where they would touch the lenses of his glasses. He felt an itch on his left bicep, but he was too occupied to worry about something like that.

Nobody could believe it, but Kenta Kitagawa was winning the battle. He had the upper hand.

"Teleport!"

His Kadabra disappeared not one minute too soon before the furious Scyther slashed its sharp scythe into blank air. Bugsy muttered a cuss word under his breath, and the usually calm gym leader was fretting fearfully.

"Sword Dance!" Bugsy cried out, as his Scythe spun in a rapid circle like an uncontrollable tornado while increasing its Attack score.

"Psychic!"

Kadabra reappeared in front of the spinning Scyther, and hurling it up in the air with its mental attack. Then in a harsh and fatal move, Kadabra threw Scyther onto the ground with no mercy.

Kenta looked on with bugged eyes, gulping and breathing loudly as he watched Scyther lying on the floor with no movement. It took a few seconds before Professor Elm made his announcement.

"Scyther is no longer able to battle. Kenta is the winner!"

All of his teammates were applauding and cheering delightfully from the sidelines, hollering and shouting loudly in joy. Bugsy uttered a chain of cuss words at the ridicule of being defeated by an amateur trainer. It was all music to his ears.

"Congratuations, you have added $30,000 into the pot by winning that battle," Yamaki said.

** POT: $152,000/$220,000**

"And the final battle…Jessie against Lily from Cerulean City!"

"Forget it, I'm not battling."

The cheering fainted when the players heard Jessie's response. It was an answer they didn't quite expect from the competitive ambassador.

"Eh? I can't add any money even if I won my battle, right? So what's the point?"

"Actually if you don't win this battle, you will not be able to win an exemption," Yamaki corrected, "Nobody here will receive an exemption then."

"That's alright. I don't feel like battling today," Jessie said.

"But…_why_?" Kenta asked, confused at the Team Rocket member's logic.

"Because I'll get creamed even if I tried," Jessie chuckled, "Just like in old Team Rocket fashion."

While the three other players looked at her with suspicious eyes, Jessie put on her best innocent smile to the players. Missing out on a potential exemption wasn't critical to her – she expected to lose embarrassingly even with all her experience. Instead Jessie opted to surrender the 1 chance of winning the exemption and chose to do something very wicked.

Judging the looks on the players' faces, it's safe to say that she accomplished her goal.

"Okay then, you'll be having your third execution quiz tonight in the digital world. You can share your stories with the other players there."

And the eight players reunited at the digital world, with hurtful gossip and clueless speculation passed around the hot topics of "_How come Tracey keeps winning those exemptions??"_, _"Why did Jessie give up a chance at an exemption?" _and the most popular subject for all of the players: Kenta Kitagawa.

In front of the cameras, Matt expressed his thoughts after witnessing the Pokemon battle victory first-hand,

"I have never suspected Kenta to be the Mole although he was acting really strange today. But that boy gave me a lot to think about today. The way he dominated in pokemon battling, I almost thought he was a pro. You know, I never gave Kenta a second glance, but I'm finally starting to notice him. He had been playing under the radar for too long and too good. It's time to see if Kenta is the Mole or not."

And Misty had a completely different spin on the whole concept,

"Matt told me how Kenta oddly resembled Ash at battle today, ruling the gym arena like he had done this a thousand times. But I just can't see the connection between them, you know? Kenta and Ash are two totally different people from two colliding worlds. I may be the odd duck from what everybody else thinks, but I am confident that Kenta is not the Mole, even after the lucky stunt he pulled off this afternoon. Besides, and I hate to jinx Kenta with this comment…but do we all remember what place Ash ended up with in this game?"

* * *

Players are separated in different sections of the digital world while taking their execution quiz on a computer, ten questions about the identity of the Mole. 

_Question #1: What is the gender of the Mole?_ Gary Oak scanned over the question quickly with his eyes before clicking on an answer.

"Tracey never ceased to astonish me in this game. The man sabotages so many challenges that people think he is _too_ obvious to be the Mole. That's how good he is. Everything seems too coincidental…Tracey refused and sabotaged the neutralizer challenge, and in result, he gets rewarded with a blasted exemption. Other players just gave up and overlooked him when he is the biggest and most obvious suspect of them all."

Yolei Inoue casually answered the third question on the screen, her usual grin replaced with a stern look at the monitor screen.

"Tracey is a pretty nice guy until you say the word 'exemption' to him. Then he turns from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde and suddenly leashes us like a rabid dog. As much as he wants us to believe that he is the Mole, I know he isn't. Tracey just tries too hard. He is a transparent guy and everybody here knows his real intentions. Tracey isn't sabotaging the pot because he is the Mole. Tracey is sabotaging because he is a very selfish man."

Misty Waterflower pressed **Purple** for an unknown question near the end of the quiz.

"I'm guessing the Mole is Yolei but I wouldn't bet my lunch money on it. She is very happy-go-lucky and bubbly, I love her to death as a friend but it just doesn't come out right in the game. I keep on feeling that she is playing as a role and the girl is a lot smarter than she lets out to be."

Finally Kenta Kitagawa read the most important question on the quiz: _Who is the Mole?_

"Gary is a very likely Mole. Sure he is nasty and cold toward everyone, but he does a lot of suspicious things in the game too. For example, he managed to avoid being put on the spot in the neutralizer challenge by putting Tracey on the spot instead. Just because he is a big jerk doesn't exempt him as being the Mole either."

* * *

In front of Digitamamon's restaurant, eight of the players sat on horizontal benches, four on each side. Grim Reaper Yamaki appeared at the scene and sank behind his laptop, ready to suck out another life from the game.

"Welcome to your third execution, players. For one of you, your journey ends here. I will randomly begin typing your names into the computer. When your name comes up, if the scren flashes green, you are safe. If the screen flashes red, you are the Mole's second victim."

Yamaki took a deep breath before entering a name.

"Kenta."

Kenta slowly shook his head apologetically in a manner like a student who did poorly on a test.

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

_tic._

The screen flashed green.

Kenta nodded his hand and closed his eyes, as the young boy tried to absorb the sight of the green into his head.

"Miyako."

Grinning ear to ear, Yolei tilted her head slightly and gazed upon the screen.

_ tic._

_ tic._

_ tic._

_ tic._

The screen flashed red.

Yolei sighed softly, but the large optimistic grin was still plastered on her face. May be if she smiled enough, the screen would automatically turn green again.

"Yolei, you are the Mole's third victim. You've been executed from the game, please follow me."

The popular purple haired girl was greeted with hugs from everybody in the game. Even Gary reluctantly got up from his seat to give her a short – but memorable embrace. Misty looked sad as she whispered a farewell to her new friend from the Digimon series, waving her a slow goodbye gesture before she left with Yamaki through a portal in the laptop.

Matt said, smiling to the cameras, running a hand through his blonde hair.

"Yolei is quite a character, I tell you. She is so easygoing and spontaneous that it's hard for anybody not to like her. Through the highs and lows of this game, she always has a big fat smile on like everything is going to be okay. Keep on grinning, smilie!"

And Misty smiled too, not wanting to get misty with the farewell speech she was giving to her new best friend,

"Her smiles are contagious and I know she won't like it if we are moping over her execution. Win or lose, the only thing that is important in this game is to have the most fun. In that category, I say she definitely succeeded. Perfecto!"

* * *

It was unbelievable. Yamaki looked at the purple haired girl, wearing a grin that shines even in the midst of darkness. How could anybody be this happy about _losing_? All through the game, Yamaki and Riley both thought the happy-go-lucky girl was an act – a persona Yolei adopted to fool the other players. But after the game, she was still grinning eternal sunshine. It actually even irritated Yamaki.

"Why are you still grinning like a two year old? Aren't you disappointed with losing?"

"Sure, I'd like to win too. But I had fun, and that's all it matters. I met a bunch of great friends I'd like to meet afterwards. I'm not going to lose any sleep over losing the money," Yolei shrugged, not truly taking the loss seriously.

"I don't know whether to call you stupid or optimistic."

"You can call me both," Yolei grinned, nudging Yamaki in the shoulder, "Come on, you shouldn't be too serious all the time. Put a smile on, it won't kill ya!"

Yamaki rolled his eyes behind his shades. He still didn't buy into the bubbly personality or superficial answers she was giving. Nobody could be _that _happy all the time! That's when he knew he had to hit on the key subject that would crush Yolei where it hurts:

"How is your relationship with Shigeru? What is going on with that silly crush?"

"I'll stalk that sexy little thing after the show is over. I'm making a memo about it." Yolei giggled girlishly, brushing a strand of purple hair from her face. "Or I'll find someone else to fall head-over-heels at the losers' lounge, you never know! Life is full of surprises"

Even the most vulnerable topic Yamaki could think of didn't break Yolei's merry barrier. Finally he gave up his prisoner and watched her skipped and climbed in the mini tour bus. He had to accept the fact that there was such a thing as a triumphant loser. The living example was standing right in front of him.

And smiling too.

The bus door closed, driving slowly away and eventually vanishing into the lonely streets of Toronto.

**END OF EXECUTION #3**

_Next Episode: **Let's Play Mind Games**_

A silent auction turns ugly when one player makes an unexpected bid over an exemption…

Author's Notes

You've waited long enough for the third installment, but this was one of the chapters that worked so much better in the script form than a narrative (I divided it into two parts). Many parts just turned to out to be way too long and boring and I've to redo the whole thing. (I also can't include a Ryo/Rika scene here, so that _totally_ sucked, hehe) Plus, I'm busy with other stuff that really drags down the writing schedule and I'm really sorry. But I did manage to rewrite and revamp the first two chapters, and I strongly recommend you to take a look at them again.

Reviewer Jackslvr made an interesting note that Yolei was the Mole based on an earlier reference to her inner thoughts. It would seem like that they are obvious giveaways to who the Mole is, but most of them are very misleading, as you could see with the case of Yolei. I use them to shove you in the wrong direction. And it's the same thing with confessionals, don't be fooled! With a wildcard character like Yolei, I think it's pretty believable for her to be more enthusiastic over a potential boyfriend more than the Mole.

The next episode contains an infamous challenge that some of you will be very familiar with from the script form. Hopefully I'll have it before the new year comes. Keep your fingers crossed! 


	4. Episode 4: Let's Play Mind Games

The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition  
By: Gomamon

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

Episode 4 – Let's Play Mind Games

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon 02) _--- EXECUTED THIRD

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon 01) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon 03) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FIRST

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon 03)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora_ (Digimon 01) _--- EXECUTED SECOND

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

* * *

Dumbest: Jeri Katou

Satisfied with the answer, Jessie slowly flipped to the next page of her tiny booklet, carefully reading the next question. Her red beautiful lips curled to a wicked smile as she tapped her leather pen to the desk in a catchy rhythm.

Most Obnoxious:

"This is harder than I thought!" Jessie maliciously grinned to the cameras, "They are _all_ obnoxious here! Can't I just put down everybody?"

Early on the brisk morning of day five, Yamaki instructed all the players to fill in a questionnaire based on their remaining players, and the questions were not pretty. Who was the most clueless player? Who was the biggest hypocrite? Jessie slowly devoured the questions in her little booklet, putting deep consideration on each question. Truth be told, she was having too much guilty fun filling in the names down to their respectable titles.

Anybody who knew Jessie can tell you that she had a very sick sense of humour.

Quietly filing all the available answers in her head, the voluptuous Team Rocket member finally wrote down 'TRACEY' beside that dishonourable title. Even though the unlikable Pokemon watcher was an easy and unanimous answer, in Jessie's honest opinion, all six of the remaining players fit into the same dirty mold.

"Me? Petty?" She would say in a mock voice, carrying an innocent look on her face before bursting out in hysterics. "Well no duh!"

With a feisty and straight attitude like that, Jessie simply did not get along with many of the players here. Quiet ones like Jeri and Kenta avoided her, while all the others simply ignored her. She was the single personality that clashed with everybody else in the game. They tried their best to minimize possible conflict with the mouthy diva, but it was impossible. Jessie was a decaying virus, and whenever she went, trouble followed.

"Jessie is a bitch," Misty said in a confessional, with a sheepish smirk on her face, "I hate to use that word, but there is no other way to describe her."

And Jessie was damn proud of the title she carried in this game. Amongst all the generic goody-two-shoes in this game, she was the lone villain fighting endlessly with all her might. She might not be liked and she might be called a bitch sometimes, but she was not here to make friends at all.

"Everybody is boring like dry paint here. They all want to get along, and that's nice…if you are attending summer camp. But who wants to see that in an intense competition like this one? It's not interesting at all!" argued Jessie. Coming into this game, she was determined to stir the pot, causing hectic waves within the harmonious group.

Suddenly, an inspiring idea sprouted in her head. She erased her current answer TRACEY off the page, and then with careful and sophisticated writing, she printed:

Most Obnoxious: Jeri

Nobody will expect this answer – a brutally ruthless answer opposing against the sweet and innocent portrayal Jeri beautifully mastered throughout the game. Ever since the first day, Jessie hated that sickeningly sweetheart everybody treated like a little sister. Everybody just _loved_ Jeri Katou and the pitiful image she desperately tried to pull off – except for Jessie of course. She absolutely cannot tolerate Jeri, the polar opposite of her abrasive personality.

"Repeat after me, everybody…that Jeri twerp is full of bullshit," Jessie said boldly to the cameras, with a wicked grin on her face. Not willing to elaborate on the topic any longer, she closed the booklet on her desk. Nobody will expect the answer coming at all.Nobody will.

And the hurt look on meek little Jeri's face will be _priceless._

* * *

Misty sighed as she stumbled out of her room with the booklet in her hands. Yolei was executed, so that was the first hint that things weren't going to be good. Plus, the players were still giving Tracey the silent treatment, which Misty absolutely hated but can not do anything about. She suddenly felt very powerless and lonely – almost on the verge of abandoning this game altogether.

"Good morning Kasumi, you are the first to finish your questionnaire," Yamaki said. The gym leader sadly nodded as she entered into the Pokemon Centre lobby where the blonde host was standing with his laptop. They had not returned to Toronto yet, and were still situated in the wondrous Pokemon World.

"Do I get a prize for it?" She joked, handing in her booklet to the host.

"As a matter of fact, you do," Yamaki replied, gesturing his hand to the coffee table, "Take one of the briefcases on the table."

"What's in them?" Misty asked curiously, glancing over at the seven grey briefcases, each with a number labeled on them. She shuffled through the pile to retrieve briefcase number seven, her lucky number.

Yamaki shrugged, carrying a slimy smirk on his face.

Gary then walked in with his completed questionnaire, eyeing the briefcase in Misty's hands very suspiciously until Yamaki explained to him that it was part of the challenge. The young professor didn't hesitate as he grabbed the briefcase labeled "#1" from the table. That made Misty giggle softly, wondering if it was intentional for the arrogant teenager to picked a number that reflected his huge ego.

Soon, the remaining players all gave in their questionnaires and chose a random briefcase. Jessie was last, wearing a usual sly grin on her gorgeous face. She swiftly lifted the remaining briefcase, number five, off the table and joined the others in the lobby.

"There will be one exemption given in this round," Yamaki announced, slowly placing his laptop a table, "You can buy that exemption in a silent auction right here."

"Where?" Tracey asked inquisitively, scanning his eyes around the Pokemon Centre.

"You will place individual bids for an exemption inside this laptop, just type your name and the amount of money you are willing to give up for this exemption." Yamaki explained, "However, the money you are biddingg with will come directly from the pot. In addition, none of the bids can be higher than $40,000."

The players gathered around the laptop, studying the tiny monitor. On the screen, there were two blank fields requesting for _"First Name"_ and _"Bid"_, as well as a button labeled _"Submit"_.

"What if there is a tie?" Gary asked.

"In the case of a tie, then neither of the players will win the exemption. The player with the second highest bid will take the exemption instead."

"That's awesome," Kenta grinned enthusiastically. He was one of the players who had yet to receive an exemption, so he was excited to finally have an opportunity.

"Once your name is submitted into the computer, it will not let you put in another bid, so you can only enter one bid." Yamaki said, "This auction will end after we finished with our second challenge,"

"Um guys, I have an idea…" Matt suggested, "I don't think any of us should bid higher than $20,000."

"Good idea. We can reduce our losses this way," Gary nodded his head in agreement.

"Actually I don't think _any_ of us should participate in this auction," Jeri said quietly, too nervous to look up at her fellow players.

"Why not!?" Tracey exclaimed in a spontaneous outburst, feeling the need to defend himself immediately. "We all deserve a fair chance at this exemption!"

"I mean…we are taking money directly out of our pot," Jeri muttered, "We worked so hard to put money in the pot…I j-just don't think it's right for us to spend it on an exemption."

"Jeri has a point," Misty said, "May be none of us should bid on this exemption."

"Uh no, I don't think so. That's a bad idea, twerp." Jessie wiggled her finger in front of little Jeri's face.

"Well," Jeri shrugged, "I won't be bidding on the exemption, and I hope you all do the same."

"You are not going to?" Kenta asked in surprise.

"Nope, and you shouldn't bid either, Kenta."

_Is she for real?_ Matt raised his eyebrow at the young girl, seemingly so genuine and innocent. He truly didn't believe any player in their right mind would make such a selfless sacrifice for the exemption. But yet, her words were so sincere, so angelic…so true.

"Perhaps we are the selfish and pompous bastards for bidding at the auction, but…" Matt scrunched up his handsome face as he confessed, "I don't know. Jeri tries to play up her girl-next-door image way too much. I don't buy into her bull. Nobody can be that innocent and generous."

"I feel bad doubting Jeri, but she is too nice sometimes." Kenta quietly admitted, "May be even a little naïve. But no, I don't think she is the Mole. I hate to say this, but I don't think Jeri has it in her to be the Mole."

"Just to clarify though," Matt looked around his fellow players for support, "The maximum bid for this auction should be $20,000. Not forty grand, okay?" The players somewhat mumbled in agreement.

"Now, I need two players who would participate in a challenge involving answers from these questionnaires," said Yamaki. Two hands instantly rose from Jessie and Jeri.

"Okay, that challenge will come later in the day," Yamaki explained, "As for the other five players, change into your swimsuits. We'll be meeting at the swimming pool outside in five minutes for your challenge."

"Swimming pool? Sounds like a water challenge. This one should be right up your alley," Matt nudged the grinning aquatic gym leader.

"Yeah," Misty beamed, "Hopefully we will sail to an easy win."

"We know you are the best swimmer here. Don't squirm out on us, you little twerp," Jessie added, in a half-playful tone, "Or we'll know you are the Mole for sure!"

* * *

After changing into their swimsuits, four of the five participants reunited around the rectangular pool outside of the Pokemon Centre. The players were very impressed with the gigantic size and immense depth of the pool.

"Whoa! Dude, this looks like a swimming pool used in the Olympics!" Matt joked, chuckling softly under his breath.

Ignoring the remark, the host marched solemnly to the edge of the swimming pool. Yamaki pulled out six pokeballs from his jacket pocket, and released the pokemon inside one by one. Out came six fierce looking Tentacruels, causing huge splashes before diving agilely into the pool. Then afterwards, he also tossed the six pokeballs in disperse locations of the pool. Those tiny sphere devices quickly sank to the bottom.

"Aww! I love Tentacruels!" Misty gasped in delight as she watched the blue jellyfishes frolic in the water.

"Awesome!" Kenta added, still enamored by the sight of any Pokemon from previous experience.

Just then, Tracey jogged over to join the four players by the pool. Gary shot an irritated glare at the late Pokemon Watcher, who only guiltily apologized for his delayed arrival. As expected, he had been hanging around at the lobby, getting first dibs on bidding in the silent auction.

"Using pokeballs located at the bottom of this pool, your objective will be to recapture these Tentacruels in under five minutes. When all of the poisonous jellyfishes are restored in their pokeballs, the challenge is won and I will add $25,000 into the pot."

"That's _so_ easy. This will be a snap," said Gary conceitedly.

"In the process, you will also have one thin piece of red ribbon tied to your leg," Yamaki said, "When your ribbon is removed, you're eliminated from the competition and must leave the pool immediately. Keep in mind that these Tentacruels will try to rip the ribbon off your leg."

The five players tied a piece of red ribbon to their right leg, or in Misty's case, the left leg. During some last-minute warming up, Yamaki suddenly added, with a trademark smirk:

"Oh, and please select one player you feel will perform the _worst_ in this challenge."

Kenta nervously looked around the taller players, trying to search for an answer to this surprise question. Standing beside him was Matt Ishida, and although the handsome blonde was not familiar with Pokemon like the others, he was a great athlete much needed for this physically demanding challenge.

Despite being the sole female contender, the avid Misty was an excellent swimmer, given her background in the Cerulean gym. She probably would give the _best_ performance, hardly the worst. Tracey and Gary were two skilled experts of Pokemon, both equipped with depth and experience on the Tentacruel race.

It was no surprise to anybody when the clumsy Kenta was unanimously selected.

"Kenta, please come with me," Yamaki instructed as the pair walked to a distance outside of the group's earshot.

"So do I get to sit out? Please?" Kenta laughed, feeling slightly embarrassed as his new title.

"Your fellow players underestimated you by claaiming that you would do the worst in this challenge," Yamaki said, "Now is the chance to prove them wrong. I'm willing to add $50,000 to the pot, instead of the standard $25,000, _if_ you are the last player remaining in the pool. All of the players must be eliminated, and all of the Tentacruels must be captured in order for you to double the stakes."

"Wow, that's a lot of money," muttered Kenta.

"You must be the only thing left in the pool after five minutes. No Tentacruels and no players, for the price of $50,000." Yamaki said, "Do you accept the offer?"

"Mmm…yeah, it wouldn't hurt if I tried, right? I'll just end up looking like a big goof, like always. But let's go for it." Kenta smiled weakly. The prospects of this challenge sounded way out of the little boy's abilities, but he wasn't one to surrender on a tempting challenge.

Besides, it would be the perfect chance for Kenta to redeem himself. This could be his shining moment proving to everyone that he was NOT worthless.

Wearing an anxious but excited look on his childlike face, Kenta returned to join the other players by the pool. They all glared at him suspiciously, not knowing what type of proposal Yamaki had made for him. Was it good? Was it bad? However, they didn't have time to develop their paranoia because the challenge was about to commence.

"Let the games begin…" Yamaki raised his arm as the players scurried to the pool before the signal, "The timer is starting…NOW!"

Misty dived gracefully into the pool immediately, shifting through the water with elegance as she searched for a pokeball in the deep bottom. The four men follow closely behind the girl, with Kenta trailing loosely behind. But only seconds into the pool, the little boy was stunned when he barely dodged a stream of toxic goop flung out of nowhere, only mere inches from his face.

"They can attack!?" Kenta exclaimed in shock, looking at the black goop sizzle lividly in front of with awe. It was an Acid attack from one of the Tenatcruel, and it proved to be deadly.

"Silly kids…of course they will attack! They're specially trained just for this challenge!" Yamaki replied, wearing his trademark devil smirk as he watched the men fret nervously while the Tentacruels continued an array of poisonous attacks.

"Yamaki, you evil bastard! You did…not…mention…this!" Matt yelled before diving down, merely escaping a splatter of toxic goop from Tentacruel.

Just then, Misty's pointy little head popped out of the water, and the avid swimmer carried a red pokeball in her hand. Fiercely, she tossed the pokeball to the nearest Tentacruel, capturing it into the tiny device in one swift motion.

"Five Tentacruels left in the pool!" Yamaki announced, "Kasumi caught one! Four minutes and thirty seconds left!"

Without any hesitation, the Cerulean gym leader dropped the device into the water and then swam down to retrieve another pokeball. Elsewhere in the pool, Gary also held a pokeball in his hands. But unlike the talented Misty, the professor was having a much more difficult time. He cannot capture a Tentacruel because it was too far away in a distance that was out of the pokeball's limited capabilities.

"Damn it!" He muttered as he swam closer to the targeted jellyfish.

"Shigeru is struggling with a capture! Four minutes left!"

Spotting another pokeball at the corner of the pool, Misty eagerly swam closer to retrieve the nearby gadget. But to her surprise, a pair of Tentacruels launched their bodies directly at where Misty was. One of the Tentacruels swiftly lunged for Misty, but she easily escaped by squeezing her agile body through the narrow spaces between the two Tentacruels.

But then something happened that Misty had not expected. A third Tentacruel drifted quietly behind her, catching the exceptional swimmer in a rare moment with her guard down. Those few seconds proved to be the fatal, as that Tentacruel swiftly brushed past Misty's body, snatching the red ribbon off her leg.

"Kasumi is eliminated from the challenge! Exit the pool immediately!"

Shocked at her early demise, the Cerulean gym leader resurfaced and slowly moved to a pool ladder to exit. The four remaining males were all nervous, seeing as how their most skilled swimmer was already eliminated. The odds of a victory had now severely decreased.

At that time of Misty's elimination, the athletic Gary finally managed to close in the distance from his target Tentacruel. In one quick motion that he was used to doing, he swiped the Tentacruel into the Pokeball.

"Three minutes and thirty seconds left! The second Tentacrruel is caught!"

On the other side of the pool, Tracey was having trouble with capturing the agile Tentacruels with his pokeball. Every time he attempted to catch one, they would immediately jump right out of the spheres. It was beginning to frustrate the patient Pokemon Watcher.

"Damn it, they need to be weakened first!" Tracey said, "But how!?"

Elsewhere, the two Digimon males were in a totally different scenario. Staying closely to each other, Matt and Kenta were frantically dodging left and right from the toxic attacks of an aggressive Tentacruel. Although Matt had a pokeball in his hand, he was to busy escaping the poisonous spit to actually utilize his device.

Taking this golden opportunity for what it's worth, the clever Kenta unexpectedly dove underwater. Although his swimming skills were far from superb, he managed to draw nearer to where Matt's legs were dangling. His vision was foggy without his glasses, but he could still see the knot that tied the red ribbon to Matt's leg. And without any further delay, the young boy reached for his leg and snapped the ribbon off.

"Hey! What's going on here!?" Matt suddenly jerked back, reacting at once to the unexpected yank on his leg. On the sidelines, Misty gasped with surprise again to see Kenta resurfacing, proudly holding Matt's red ribbon in his hands.

"Yamato, you are eliminated from the challenge. Exit the pool immediately!"

"You weasel! You got an exemption proposal, didn't you?" Matt shook his fist at Kenta before leaving the pool like a true sore loser. Tracey and Gary stole a quick glance at the incident, but they were too occupied capturing the Tentacruels to do anything about it.

"Three minutes! There are still four Tentacruels in the pool!"

In a swift and flawless moment, Gary managed to sneak behind a Tentacruel and successfully confine the jellyfish in his pokeball. Meanwhile, Tracey and Kenta were both diving down to retrieve a new pokeball.

"Three Tentacruels!"

Sensing the potential threat that Gary became, a pair of Tentacruels swarmed toward the defenseless professor at both directions, giving him very little space or time to escape. At the very last second, Gary quickly stroked backwards, dodging the sandwich tackle the pair tried to perform. Instead, the two Tentacruels jammed into each other, and consequently knocked each other to an unconscious state.

Soon Kenta resurfaced, and the little boy swam with all of his might to capture one of the motionless Tentacruels, drifting senselessly in the water.

"Two minutes and twenty five seconds left! Two Tentacruels remaining to be captured!"

Seconds later, Tracey also emerged out of the water, imprisoning the second unconscious jellyfish into his pokeball.

"Good job, guys! Keep it up!" Misty cheered. Although out of the action, the Cerulean gym leader was still very involved in being a thrilled spectator at the challenge.

"There is only one Tentacruel left in the pool! Two minutes and ten seconds remaining!"

Underwater, Gary was having trouble finding the last pokeball in the bottom of the pool. _Where is it?_ His eyes frantically darted everywhere in all possible locations, but he could not find it! He could not find the last pokeball anywhere!

Tracey, however, spotted the pokeball right only a few feet away from where he was. Swimming dexterously to retrieve this remaining pokeball, the observant Pokemon Watcher scooped the device into his hand. Without wasting any precious time, he pitched the pokeball powerfully and accurately at the floating jellyfish. And thus, the last Tentacruel was finally captured into the pokeball.

All was silent as everybody turned their utmost attention to the wobbling pokeball. Judging by the vigorous shakes made by the device, Tracey predicted that the Tentacruel will jump out any second now…any second. But yet, nothing happened. The pokeball finally ceased any movement, lying motionlessly in the water.

The day was saved by Tracey Sketchit.

"Booyah! Way to go!" exclaimed a joyous Matt, pumping his fist up in the air triumphantly.

"We won! We did it!" Misty laughed, clapping her hands together to celebrate the victory, "You're the man, Tracey!"

But for Kenta, the challenge was far from over. While everybody was celebrating over their assumed victory, the little boy swam to where Tracey was, who was making his way to the pool ladder. Kenta snuck behind the incautious Pokemon watcher, and in a move that will surprise everybody, he tore the ribbon off Tracey's stubby leg.

"Kenji is eliminated from the challenge! One minute and fifteen seconds left!" Yamaki announced, smirking as the unaware players gasped in shock. The festive mood vanished immediately into the air.

"What the…what's going on?"

"Kenta was offered an exemption! He must have! That's why he is doing this!"

"Stop him! Don't let him sabotage the pot!"

Taking a deep breath, Kenta dove down into the water, stretching his hand as he reached for Gary's ribbon. But the athletic professor also dived underwater, swiftly escaping his approach. This aquatic tag continued between the two, with Kenta frantically chasing Gary in circles around the pool. As the pair dwindled underwater, the players watched anxiously from land.

Finally, Gary emerged out of the water. As always, he wore an intense and intimidating look on his emotionless face.

There was a red ribbon in his hand. It was Kenta's ribbon.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Tracey exclaimed in joyous gasps as soon as he caught sight of the ribbon.

"The challenge is now over," Yamaki declared, "You have successfully added $25,000 to the pot."

A smug smirk formed on Gary's face as he swam to the pool ladder, gloating in silent joy. He drowned in the pool of the endless compliments and praises of the three other players, boosting the young professor's huge ego even further.

"That was a great performance, Gary!" Matt patted him on the back as he walked out of the pool.

_It is ME we are talking about, so obviously it was a great performance,_ Gary thought. But not wanting to spoil the glorious moment, he kept those conceited words inside his head, only nodding receptively to the flattering of the other players.

Defeated, Kenta slowly and sadly exited the swimming pool, shaking his head in disappointment. He put all of his effort in the challenge and exceeded beyond his limits, but yet he still failed. He did not prove himself at all. And he watched the four other players cheering from a distance, knowing how it will soon fade away as Yamaki explained all of the details.

"I made an earlier proposal with Kenta before the challenge. He was given a task to be the last player remaining at the end of the challenge," Yamaki said, "He did not succeed."

"And that means no exemption for him!" Tracey grinned. Kenta sighed loudly, still shaking his head.

"Actually no, I did not offer Kenta an exemption. But if he had succeeded, I would add $50,000 into the pot instead of $25,000."

Matt's jaw dropped in awe as he heard Yamaki's statement. _Huh? What is going on?_

"Y-you mean…Kenta wasn't playing for an exemption?" The handsome blonde stammered.

"No. He was playing to double the pot. But he failed. If you remembered what I said earlier today, there would only be one exemption given in this round."

"Ohmygosh," Misty slapped her hand to her mouth as she came into realization, reacting as if she was going to vomit into the pool.

"Well, that JUST sucks big time," grumbled Tracey.

POT: $177,000/$270,000

But nobody was more shocked at the news than Gary Oak, he was stunned beyond belief. He watched Matt and Misty making approach to Kenta, praising his efforts apologetically. Those exact words that were flowing melodiously into Gary's ear a minute ago was now gushing to Kenta all at once. In a sudden twist of fate, his supporters had abandoned him. Gary was no longer the savior of this challenge who succeeded in stopping Kenta from winning an exemption.

Instead, he became a very guilty suspect.

* * *

Tracey took a sip of coffee from his mug, trying to warm up after the vigorous swimming challenge earlier in the day. Coffee was like a battery for the Pokemon Watcher, and it was the root ingredient to all of his enthusiasm and energy. But there was an unfortunate side effect of drinking too much coffee, because the Pokemon Watcher was growing very jumpy, very hyper and very, _very_ paranoid.

"In summary of today's challenge, the most obvious suspect would be Gary," said Tracey rapidly, "If he didn't rebel against Kenta's advances, then we would have doubled the pot. If he had just let Kenta rip the ribbon off his leg, like I did, then we wouldn't have lost all that money. So in a way, you could say that Gary lost the challenge for us."

Tracey took another sip of coffee before continuing his confessional.

"But Gary was under the assumption that Kenta was playing selfishly for an exemption. Before his eyes, Kenta suddenly eliminates me without any reason or logic. I think it would be a natural reaction for Gary to defend himself, jumping immediately to the conclusion that Kenta was trying to sabotage the challenge. In his mind, he thought it would be the right move – the heroic move, to stop Kenta. If you look at it this way, I don't think Gary is responsible for the loss at all. He was totally unaware of what was happening."

Tracey grinned slyly, taking a third sip from his green mug.

"I think Kenta is more suspicious for not winning the $50,000. If he tried harder to eliminate Gary, we probably would have won the whole damn challenge. But ultimately, Kenta failed on the duty he was assigned to, he just didn't bring home the bacon. May be he was hanging back and not putting in all of his effort, who knows? He should have tried harder to obtain Gary's ribbon. Kenta has just as much to blame for the loss as Gary."

The speed of his voice was increasing, as the Pokemon Watcher goes on total analysis mode.

"However, Misty really let us down in this challenge. We had high expectations of a Cerulean gym leader to do so well in a swimming challenge. This _swimming_ challenge was totally in Misty's element. But in the first minute of this challenge, she was eliminated! She was the first player to be eliminated, despite being the best swimmer out of all of us! I think that statistic spoke volumes. Best swimmer, first eliminated? Something doesn't add up."

With no intentions of stopping, Tracey was now talking in such a rapid speed that his words were almost unintelligible.

"And Matt…he contributed nothing to this challenge. He didn't capture a single Tentacruel in the whole time he was out there. Every time I saw Matt, he was just staying still in the water like a piece of log. I don't know what he's trying to catch, except may be some dead brain cells. But the point is that Matt didn't do anything at all! Personally, I think he was holding back, and Matt also indirectly sabotaged the challenge. The challenge would have been so much easier had Matt helped."

Tracey suddenly stopped, taking a final sip of his coffee as he concluded his speech.

"And then there's Jessie and Jeri, who didn't even show up for the challenge at all. Okay, it's true that they weren't participating, but why didn't they even show up as spectators? They know that this challenge will be on the quiz, but yet they didn't even bother to show up for the challenge. Suspicious? Definitely."

Placing his coffee mug on a nearby table, the Pokemon Watcher grinned to the cameras in a slightly flustered manner. He was always guilty of over thinking a topic until it was completely thorough. While his clever brain provided him lots of details, scenarios and questions, Tracey soon found out that he lacked the most important thing: an answer.

"Screw it, everybody is the Mole!"

* * *

"Hello ladies," said Yamaki. "Please take a seat as we begin our next challenge."

Jessie sat on a cold and uncomfortable stool in the middle of the room, holding a tiny chalkboard and one piece of white chalk in her manicured hand. Sitting across from her was Jeri Katou, wearing a naively sweet smile on her face that almost made Jessie want to puke.

"I will be asking both of you five questions based on the questionnaire you've filled in," Yamaki began, "However, you will be trying to predict what the other player answered on her questionnaire. So Musashi, you want to answer what Juri answered on her survey, and vice versa."

"Got it," said Jessie, wearing an edgy smirk on her face.

"For every correct answer, I will award you with one letter to a ten-letter word. At the end of the questions, the two of you will then try to solve this ten-letter word, using the letters you earned in this challenge. With onlyy one guess, you must decipher the word to earn $30,000 into this pot."

"Mmm-hm."

"So without further ado, let's begin. Just remember that you're trying to answer what the other player answered on her questionnaire."

"Yes, we got it already," Jessie snapped impatiently, "Just hurry up and start the challenge."

"Alright," Yamaki shot the feisty Team Rocket member a dirty glare, "The first question is…which remaining player in the game is the vainest?"

Both women thought for a while before scribbling an answer on their chalkboards. Jessie seemed quite confident in her choice of answer, while Jeri looked rather nervous and unsure, as always.

"Reveal your answers."

Turning their chalkboards over, both had written "MATT" on their chalkboards.

"I'm sorry, Musashi. Juri had answered you as the vainest player in this game."

"Oh," Jessie smirked slyly to the nervous girl, "Thank you for that honour."

"But Juri is correct however. Musashi did answer Yamato for this question."

Correct: 1/2

"Next question: which player is the most paranoid?"

Without any hesitation, Jessie immediately scratched a name on the chalkboard. Jeri thought it over briefly, but also quickly wrote down an answer.

"Reveal your answers."

With no surprise to anybody, they both wrote "TRACEY" on their chalkboards.

"Both of you are correct," Yamaki said, stifling a laugh, "In fact, all of the players answered Kenji for this question, even Kenji himself."

Correct: 3/4

"Third question: which player is the most focused?"

Unlike the previous question, the two women had a much more difficult time putting an answer on their chalkboard. Scratching her head furiously, Jeri slightly frowned as she put down her answer on the board.

_How do I know what that girl is thinking?_ Jessie glanced up at the innocent girl sitting in front of her._ How do I get into her head when she is totally different from me?_ Grunting softly in dissatisfaction, Jessie put down "GARY" on her chalkboard, as it was what she answered on her survey. Hopefully Jeri would think the same.

"Reveal your answers."

Jessie sighed as she saw the name "TRACEY" written on Jeri's blackboard, knowing it was the wrong answer.

"Sorry Juri, but Musashi had said that Shigeru was the most focused player. Musashi, your answer is also incorrect; Juri answered Kenta as the most focused player here."

"They're friends, so obviously they answered each other," Jessie said as she erased the name from her chalkboard, "I should have known that."

Correct: 3/6

"Fourth question: Who is the sleaziest player in this game?"

After putting some consideration into her answer, Jeri wrote down "MATT" as her answer. That was not her honest opinion though, because she thought the handsome blonde was very charming. But the little girl figured that was the answer Jessie would most likely put.

Because Jessie has too much face to actually admit that she is the sleaziest player here.

"Reveal your answers."

Jessie turned her chalkboard over, with the answer "JESSIE" on it.

"Both of your answers are correct."

"Oh my, do you really think I'm vain _and_ sleazy…" Jessie smiled wickedly at Jeri, always one to insert a snide remark, "I guess you have a very good impression of me, don't you, little one?"

Jeri's lips quivered, but the fragile little girl refused to look up at the intimidating Jessie.

Correct: 5/8

"And the last question: who is the most obnoxious player?"

Jessie confidently wrote her name down on the chalkboard, fully aware that Jeri's simple answering pattern by now. Because every time there was a question involving a negative personality trait, Jessie would always be the correct answer. The little girl just didn't have the heart to badmouth anybody else _but_ Jessie.

_So predictable and naïve,_ Jessie thought in her head.

"Reveal your answers."

Jessie revealed her own name on the chalkboard.

"Musashi, you are correct."

And Jeri also turned over her chalkboard, also with her own name written down on it. And although Jessie was glad that she answered the question correctly, there was a tiny tingling part of her that was disappointed.

"Juri, you are also correct."

Oh poo, she was supposed to be shocked to tears that someone actually doesn't like her. But how did she know?

Correct: 7/10

"The first part of this challenge is complete," said Yamaki, "Since you have answered seven questions correctly, you will receive the first seven letters of the ten-letter word. You have to unscramble themm and try to guess what word that spells out."

"We have only one guess, right?" Jessie asked.

"Correct. And here are the first seven letters of the word in alphabetical order: A, B, C, E, F, I and R."

Jeri wrote the seven letters on her blackboard, and the two women pulled their seats together to discuss over the word.

"Well, I was thinking that the word probably starts with a consonant, since it has ten letters," Jeri meekly said, looking up at Jessie for reassurance.

"I guess so, so it should start with B, C, F or R."

Using Jessie's empty blackboard, Jeri began writing some of the letters down, trying to find the correct combination.

"How about F-I-R-E-C-A-B?"

"Is that even a word?"

"Ooh, what about R-I-C-E…uh…F-I-A?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

Scratching another suggestion from the blackboard, Jeri closed her eyes as she arranged the letters together in order visually in her head. Jessie, on the other hand, is scribbling down various letter combos on the blackboard.

"Hmm…B-R-A-C-E-I-F…no, that doesn't make any sense."

Slowly erasing the word from the blackboard, Jessie suddenly became eerily familiar with this word. She had saw this word somewhere before! The pieces to the puzzle were finally coming together for her. She looked at the word again: B-R-E-I-F. By swapping the third and fourth letter, she came up with the word: B-R-I-E-F.

"And then," she slowly said as she shifted her chalk across the mini-blackboard, "Add C and A…Voila! I've got it!"

"What is the word?" Jeri's head turned to her partner instantly.

"Briefcases!" Jessie proudly replied, "It makes sense, doesn't it? We had to pick briefcases this morning!"

"I guess it does," Jeri smiled sweetly. "I think that's the right answer. Is the word briefcases, Yamaki?"

"Is that your final answer?" Yamaki asked, sounding very intimidating in his deep and ominous voice.

"Yes."

"In that case," Yamaki tilted his head and paused in dramatic fashion, loving the suspense in the air, "Congratulatioons. You've added $30,000 into the pot."

"Oh my gosh, this is wonderful! How did you know, Jessie?" Jeri gasped in delight.

Jessie just grinned and then shrugged.

POT: $207,000/$300,000

* * *

Kenta and Jeri were sitting together in a sofa at the Pokemon Center. With none of the other players around, the two coalition partners were able to comfortably discuss their strategy and suspicion.

"Jessie just pulled the answer out of nowhere. It was amazing," Jeri shook her head in astonishment, "But it's also very suspicious."

"How did she know the word was briefcases?" Kenta rubbed his chin, "Heck, how did she even know that the word would be in plural form?"

"I don't know…that's why I think that victory was so…how do you put it…skewed. I'm happy that we won, but she just pulled the answer out of thin air, in my opinion. It's very suspicious." Jeri whispered.

"That's very weird indeed," Kenta nodded his head, "I'm starting to think more and more that she might be the Mole."

"I know. I saw her hovering around the laptop when you guys were at the swimming pool," Jeri informed, "For a program that only required you to type in a name and a few digits, she took an awfully long time with the laptop. I think she's doing something sketchy."

"Yeah…Jessie is always suspicious like that."

The conversation between the young pair ceased as Matt planted a seat beside Jeri in the lobby. Running his hand through his golden blonde hair, the handsome prince instantly made himself comfortable in the interrupted conversation.

"What's up, guys?" Matt grinned charmingly, "Great job on the challenge today, Jeri!"

Jeri blushed modestly, "You did a good job too, Matt."

"Nah, I sucked." Matt waved his hand dismissively, then he leaned over to pat Kenta on the knee, "But Kenta here, whoa, he was exceptional in that challenge! Our MVP, hands down!"

Matt continued their light conversation with some playful jokes, causing Kenta and Jeri to emerge into hysterics. Both children genuinely enjoyed his golden charm, because the charismatic blonde always knew the right words to say. Matt always knew how to make someone feel special, and it was very evident as the two kids expressed in their confessionals.

"I like Matt a lot," Jeri had said, blushing madly like a little schoolgirl, "He is so funny and friendly all the time. I mean, he is really someone who reaches out for you, like a big brother in the game. I think he's a great guy."

"Matt is an awesome dude, that's all I have to say," Kenta grinned.

Both of them were oblivious to how much influence Matt had over them. Just like how he had his girlfriend Sora clinging out to his every word, before eventually leading her into the painful demise of this game.

The other four players filed into the lobby, all taking a seat in the sofa couches. Yamaki arrived last, carrying the laptop in his hand. He placed it on a desk that was set up across from the sofa before stating the instructions.

"Hello, you have reached the end of this silent auction."

But before Yamaki can continue, Gary abruptly cut into the middle of the host's words with a raise of hands.

"Yamaki, I couldn't enter my bid into the laptop," he said, "The computer said that my bid was already submitted…but I haven't entered a bid yet."

Yamaki raised his eyebrows, not expecting a problem like this to suddenly rise now. Like the producers instructed, he was only supposed to announce who the winner of the exemption was. But maintaining his calm composure, the host asked,

"Did anybody else have this problem?"

Matt's arm darted up in the air. It took a few seconds before Misty sheepishly raised her hand as well, feeling slightly embarrassed to admit on bidding.

"So, did you guys get the same message?" Yamaki questioned, feeling flustered.

"Yeah, it said something about that my bid was already submitted," Misty said, "But I didn't even put in a bid yet."

"This is alll very strange," said Yamaki as he began to type quickly into his laptop. And although there was some forced emotion in his monotonous voice, it didn't seem very genuine to most of the players.

"I don't think it's very fair that we didn't get a chance to bid when there is a technical error," Gary protested.

"But I had no problem with my bid…" Tracey said, raising his eyebrows in fascination at all of this.

"Okay, it says here that the three of you did enter in a bid…"

"That's preposterous." Gary countered angrily, "Something must be wrong!"

"I know!" Matt argued, with Misty nodding her head in agreement, "We didn't even get a chance to enter in a bid yet."

"Sorry, I can't do anything about it." Yamaki shrugged, "The laptop has information of your bids and I can't do anything to change that."

Ignoring three unsatisfied looks from Gary, Matt and Misty, Yamaki turned the laptop monitor over for everybody to see. There was nothing on the screen except a field of black.

"The highest bid will win the exemption for this round," Yamaki said before clicking the enter key on the laptop, "And the first bid…" The black screen suddenly blinked until it exposed a name:

MATT ISHIDA

--- $40,000

"Huh?" Matt looked at the screen with a dumbfounded expression, "That isn't my bid. I was the one who suggested that we wouldn't go over $40,000!"

"I can't believe this!" Tracey angrily stared at the bid, fiercely glaring at the blonde. "You lied to us! Screw that whole heroic act of not going over $20,000!"

"I didn't lie, Tracey. I'm telling the truth and whether you believe me or not, I did not enter that bid. I was only going to enter five thousand dollars, at most!"

"The second bid," Yamaki ignored all the commotion going on, continuing the revelation:

MISTY WATERFLOWER

--- $40,000

As soon as the Pokemon Watcher saw the monitor he sighed in a deep breath of relief, "Good grief that it was a tie. So according to the rules, neither of you will get the exemption."

"Is that all you care about?" Matt mumbled resentfully. "Especially when there are some of us who were wrongfully accused of their bids and could do nothing about it?"

"But I didn't enter that bid!" Misty argued, shaking her fist at the laptop, "My bid wasn't allowed into the laptop!"

"The third bid."

GARY OAK

--- $40,000

"That's not my bid," Gary shook his head.

"What is going on?" Misty wailed in distress. But regardless, Yamaki continued with the revelation of the bids.

"The fourth bid."

KENTA KITAGAWA

--- $40,000

"Okay, wait a second! I didn't even enter a bid!"

Kenta's raspy voice suddenly piped up for the first time since the auction started. Not a person who liked to get involved in drama and confrontations, he stayed quiet throughout the feud, but that was enough. He was completely innocent and he knew it.

"I didn't even enter a bid into the laptop! I stayed away from this whole auction altogether!"

"Yeah right," Jessie scoffed, finding the scenario very entertaining.

"It's true! I didn't want to bid on the exemption and take money out of the pot!"

"Yamaki, I think you should do this whole auction again," Gary said, "There is obviously something very wrong here."

"Yeah, I demand a redo!"

"I trust the computer more than you guys, no offeense. What's on the database is raw facts," Yamaki shrugged, continuing as he clicked on the enter key to reveal the next bid, "The fifth bid."

Jessie

--- $12,345

"Yep, that's my bid," Jessie said, always there to stir up the pot a little more. "Nothing changed since the last time I entered it, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of the bitching from some of you people."

"But it's true-" Kenta complained.

"You know, this means that Jessie may now have the exemption, right?" Tracey asked, interrupting the little boy. "Since all the tied bids cancel each other out? So Jessie has the highest bid?"

"Very nice," Jessie smiled as she saw Yamaki nodded his head in response.

"But here comes the sixth bid," said Yamaki, pressing the keyboard key.

Tracey Sketchit

--- $20,500

Tracey grinned, now very assured that he had this exemption in the sack. _All those lying fools tried to outsmart each other and bid $40,000 on the exemption and canceled each other out! Losers!_

"I can't believe Tracey is going to get another exemption," Gary scowled.

"This is his fourth one," Matt chuckled at the irony.

"Why don't you actually try to take the quiz for once? You may like it," Jessie mocked, jumping in the anti-Tracey bandwagon. That caused a few stifled snickers from most of the players. But Tracey was happy, oh, he was very happy now.

Screw them! I got an exemption, again!

And just when it seemed like Yamaki was going to close his laptop, just when it seemed like Tracey Sketchit would breeze through a fourth exemption, just when everything was going to wrap up in one nice gentle fold…everybody was shocked when Yamaki revealed one final bid.

"Here is the final bid," Yamaki announced, "And also the winner of our exemption goes to…"

He clicked the enter key on his laptop, revealing one very distinguishable name:

JERI KATOU

--- $39,000

"What!?" Jeri yelled, leaping out of her seat in genuine surprise. "I didn't enter a bid at all!"

"Traitor!" Tracey shouted, pinning his eyes toward the little girl. He was absolutely furious that _his_ exemption was suddenly stolen away by…Jeri Katou? What is going on!?

"Guys, you have to believe me," Jeri frantically turned her head to all of the players, "I didn't put that bid. I swear."

"Well, look at Miss little goody-two-shoes here, showing her true colours." Jessie rolled her eyes in resentment, "Weren't you the one this morning who oh so self righteously stated that none of us should bid on the auction?"

"Yeah, I think her exact words were: I'm not going to bid on this auction, and I hope you do the same." Tracey mocked, raising his voice to imitate Jeri, "What a load of bullshit!"

"I d-did not do this," Jeri stammered, "I don't even want the exemption! I forfeit the exemption! Take it back and put the money back into the pot!"

"Sorry, I can't do that. Those are not flexible rules," Yamaki said, "Juri, you are the exemption winner, but in result, $39,000 is taken away from the pot."

POT: $168,000/$300,000

"What a waste of the money we've worked so hard to earn," Gary sighed.

"This is not my fault," Jeri murmured softly, tears already coming to the corners of her eyes, ready to leak out at any second.

"Oh puh-lease, girlfriend! We all heard it!" Jessie exclaimed in disgust, "It is totally your fault! You probably set this whole thing up too!"

"It's funny how you are the only person who actually kept under the limit, Jessie." Matt raised his eyebrows in interest. "Isn't that funny in a sense?"

"I can't believe this. You're all liars!" Tracey yelled, his face almost turning red with anger. Then he pointed his stubby finger at Jeri, "And you. I truly did not see it from you, but you are the biggest liar of them all."

And then poor little Jeri couldn't take it anymore. She began to cry, bawling her beady little eyes out. In her mind, none of this was supposed to happen. She didn't want everybody suddenly hating her for something that she didn't do. This was all going very, very wrong.

"Guys, I think that's enough…It's a done deal. Jeri has the exemption and nothing you say could change that fact." Misty said, and although she was still confused about the whole thing, it tore her heart to see Jeri cry like that. She immediately moved to Jeri's side and supported her as a crying shoulder.

"I didn't…do…it," Jeri sobbed emotionally as Misty patted the crying girl sympathetically on the back, "I'm innocent!"

"Yeah right. I'm really sick of this obnoxious innocent girl act you always try to pull off. I saw through it since day one, and I know you were the biggest lying treacherous bitch in this game." Jessie scoffed before angrily stomping out of the lobby.

"Gee, talk about a sore loser," Matt rolled his eyes. "Don't cry, Jeri, we support you. If anything, Jessie is the real bitch around here."

"And a drama queen," Gary added.

"The fourth execution will be held soon tonight. All of you, except for Juri, are in danger of being executed. Remember to bring your briefcases to the execution, and good luck," said Yamaki, only to put more burden of bad news to the misery already present. Then the blonde host took his laptop and slowly departed.

One by one, the players shuffled out of the lobby, all feeling different emotions as they made their departure. Some were flat-out furious at the turn of events, they were absolutely fuming that their chance at an exemption was stripped away from them. Some felt betrayed by Jeri and her surprisingly deceitful ways – they never saw it coming. And then there were some who simply felt confused and clueless to what was going on.

What exactly was going on!?

Eventually even Misty needed to leave Jeri's side for preparation of the upcoming execution quiz. The compassionate gym leader took one last sympathetic look at the little girl, weeping her eyes out for somebody to believe her.

And then she abandoned Jeri to drown in her own miserable agony.

All alone.

* * *

Players were taken to different rooms in the Pokemon Centre as they took their fourth execution quiz, ten questions about the identity of the Mole.

Still livid from the events earlier today, Tracey Sketchit angrily slammed his stubby fingers into the mouse to answer the first question of the quiz.

"When it comes down to it, Kenta was the reason why we didn't win all of the money in the Tentacruel challenge. I swear that his movements in the water were very swift and shifty. He wasn't as bad of a swimmer as he proclaimed to be. But I didn't understand why he couldn't rip the ribbon off Gary's leg when he already did it to Matt and me. Kenta could have tried harder, but I think ultimately he purposely lost and set Gary up for the blame."

Kenta Kitagawa is currently reading the question of: _What is the briefcase number that the Mole had?_

"Although he did a great job at catching all of the Tentacruel, I think Gary was the reason why I wasn't able to add $25,000 into the pot. Everything he did for the past few days were all very suspicious in my eyes. He keeps making these little sabotages to the pot and he keeps getting away with it."

Matt Ishida clicked **No** for the sixth question, slowly brushing his blonde hair with his hand.

"Jeri was very vocal this morning to stop us from bidding on this exemption because all those crap speeches about not taking money from the pot. Then all of a sudden, she bid $39,000 and won the exemption! In Jeri's defense, my $40,000 bid was also wrongly submitted. But my biggest nitpick about Jeri was: why was her bid $39,000 instead of $40,000 like some of us? Why did she win the exemption when none of us did?"

Jessie instantly clicked on an answer for the last question of the quiz: _Who is the Mole?_

"We just went through a very twisted day, and I love every minute of this lying, backstabbing and deceit. The Mole is doing a very good job at causing chaos within the group and I can sense that this kind of havoc is far from over. But I'm ready for everything you throw at me. Let the mind games begin."

* * *

The seven players reunited at the lobby before Yamaki made his daunting entrance into the room. Instead of sliding over to his computer laptop like he always does, he just mysteriously stood across from the players.

"Welcome to your fourth execution, players. For one of you, your journey ends here."

Yamaki stopped his regular monotonous speech there, and the players instantly realized that something was different. There was something very odd from the normal execution routine they were so used to.

"I have told each of you to bring your briefcases to this execution, and now you'll see why. Will the person with briefcase number seven please step up?"

A gush of whispers rushed through the room, but Yamaki quickly silenced them. Then slowly, Misty rose from her seat, unconfidently holding up her grey briefcase. A huge "#7" was marked in the middle of her briefcase. As gestured by Yamaki, the girl slowly marched to his side.

"Kasumi, please open your briefcase with this key."

After inserting the key into the briefcase, Misty slowly opened the lid of the briefcase. She softly gasped as she saw a huge stash of money neatly put out in front of her. The other players from the sidelines were either in total awe or in total confusion.

"In front of you is $50,000, Kasumi. I'm offering you the chance to take this money on the condition that you leave the game immediately."

Misty opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She was stunned at this exciting and surprising opportunity right in front of her. There was a wad of fifty thousand dollars right in front of her, and now she was forced to make a very difficult decision.

"The surprises just keep coming and coming," Matt whispered under his breath.

"What do you think?" Misty turned to her fellow players for help.

"I'd take it if I were you and run, girlfriend!" Jessie suggested.

"Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money," Gary said, wearing a smug smirk on his face.

"You don't get this opportunity very often, Misty." Tracey said earnestly, "You should really think about it."

In the gym leader's mind, the answer was quite obvious to her from the start. She just wanted to hear what the other players have to say about this decision. But she knew the answer all along.

"No, I'll not accept this money," she said, closing the briefcase lid, "Because I'm in here for the experience and the competition. I am not a quitter. I'm not taking the easy way out."

"Are you sure?" Yamaki asked.

"I will not take the money," Misty said in a reassuring and confident voice.

"Okay then, we will resume our normal elimination," Yamaki awkwardly nodded his head, putting away the briefcase as he slid over by his laptop. "Please return to your seat." Misty marched back to her seat between Tracey and Matt, arching her chest forward proudly, confident that she had made the right choice in refusing the money.

"Again, welcome to your fourth execution," Yamaki said, "I will randomly begin typing your names into the computer. When your name comes up, if the screen flashes green, you are safe. If the screen flashes red, you are the Mole's fourth victim."

Yamaki placed his hands on the keyboard, ready to seal somebody's fate.

"Kasumi."

Smiling weakly, Misty stared into the monitor with hope. She crossed her fingers, mumbling some unintelligible words for reassurance.

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

Misty sighed in content, happy that she didn't make a regretful choice of refusing the money. At the moment, she was still in this game.

"Musashi."

With her long and stunning legs crossed, the voluptuous villain plucked her lips together as she casually watched the screen. Covered by heavy make-up, one could see little emotions on her beautiful face.

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

She leant back in her seat, enjoying the new relief of escaping another execution.

"Kenta."

The meek boy coughed slightly, carrying a very solemn look that he always had in each execution.

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

The worried look began to slowly fade on Kenta's pale face. He smiled gratefully at the green screen.

"Kenji."

The Pokemon Watcher anxiously stared at the screen, his hands wrapped around his mouth nervously as he waited for the results.

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed red.

Tracey dropped his head to his knees in disappointment. It was over.

"Tracey, you are the Mole's fourth victim. Please come with me."

After a huge depressing sigh, the dejected Pokemon Watcher stood from his seat. And though he wasn't too popular amongst the players during the game, he still received many genuine farewell hugs and pats on the back, even a short respectful handshake from the icy Gary. He ended the round of farewells in a warm embrace with his good friend Misty. The polite teenager squeezed her hand and whispered softly into Misty' ear,

"I think you made a good choice anyhow. Win it for me, Misty."

Misty nodded as Tracey swooped down to retrieve his bag before following Yamaki out of the Pokemon Centre. Gary wore a smug smirk on his face as he started a farewell speech for the enthusiastic Pokemon Watcher.

"Isn't it funny how he gets executed immediately when he didn't have an exemption? I guess I shouldn't have blamed him for hogging all of the exemptions. He needed it."

And then Misty said the three inspiring words that were in everybody's minds at the moment. In fact, she was regretting that she had not said these words earlier when Tracey was still in the game:

"Shut up, Gary."

* * *

Exiting the digital portal and arriving back into the real world, Tracey took another deep sigh as he waited for the mini-bus to arrive. He wore a gloomy look on his face, constantly making disappointed gestures such as shaking his head and hopelessly looking up at the sky.

"I tried so hard, I really did." Tracey shrugged, taking another sigh, "But thank goodness I don't have to go through this hell again."

"Why not? You were always the most enthusiastic and intense competitor in every challenge."

"This game just isn't healthy, you know? There is so much mental pressure worrying about exemptions and quizzes and everything. I was going paranoid and overly obsessive. My head was going to explode! Screw it!" Tracey waved his hands in the air, frustrated. "Plus, I'm so pissed that I didn't outsmart the Mole."

"Your record is very impressive. Three exemptions for the first three rounds," Yamaki whistled, "And you did everything you could to get into the next round, even faking a death."

"Yeah, not my proudest moment of the game," Tracey laughed bitterly, putting his hands behind his head, "But sometimes you got to do what you got to do."

"If given a choice, would you do this game a second time?"

"I wish I had the willpower to say no," Tracey sighed as he saw the mini tour bus arriving, "But sign me up for the second edition! I fell in love with the game, and quite frankly, it's becoming an unhealthy obsession. But still, I'll play again in a heartbeat."

"That's the spirit."

After one final disappointed sigh, Tracey hopped onto the vehicle with a spunky spring to his step. Then as soon as he was seated, the eager Pokemon Watcher took out his journal and began analyzing every single page to see where he went wrong on the quiz.

The bus drove slowly along the path of demise before vanishing into the lonely streets of Toronto.

END OF EXECUTION #4

Next Episode: **Hello, Sherlock**

A pair of friends goes on an investigative game where everybody is a suspect…including their own friends and family members!

Author's Notes

So…much…drama! Isn't it great? The absence of Rika made the twist at the end rather bland and less ironic than what could have been. But I had to incorporate briefcases into this episode somehow (for the second challenge), so I left this rather out-of-place twist in.

For those of you who read the script form, you may also notice that Tracey's exit was a little out of order from the original one (he should have been gone next episode instead.) Does this mean _youknowwho _will stay for the long run!? And what is up with that sketchy silent auction, what was going on? Have fun with wild deductions until the next episode comes, and please review!

And here are the official poll results of _Who is the Mole_ from Episode 3, thanks for participating!

16 percent- Jeri, Kenta, Matt**  
15 percent - **Jessie**  
13 percent - **Tracey, Gary**  
12 percent - **Misty

Go vote in the Mole Poll for Episode 4 now!


	5. Episode 5: Hello, Sherlock

The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition  
By: Gomamon 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.****

Episode 5 – Hello, Sherlock 

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon 02) _--- EXECUTED THIRD

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon 01) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon 03) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FIRST

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon 03)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FOURTH

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora_ (Digimon 01) _--- EXECUTED SECOND

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

* * *

Kenta did not trust Jeri Katou. That much was clear.

She stood beside him by the sleet white evergreen tree, staring vacantly at the snowy streets of Toronto. A tiny snowflake fell on to the tip of her nose, and she quickly brushed it off with her gloved hand. Strapped in a hooded white jacket and a long creamy white scarf, Jeri more or less blended into the background along with the snow.

"Jeri is acting kinda…spacey today." Kenta said in a confessional earlier, carefully choosing his words. "She stopped crying, but oh boy, you should've seen her yesterday after the silent auction. She was bawling her eyes out so much that her eyes were red."

Kenta felt for his shy comrade, and he could still see the hints of pain and betrayal on Jeri's pale ghastly face, even if she was hiding these emotions very subtly. Thin strands of her long hazel brown hair dangled over her hollow black eyes. The healthy and vibrant colours were drained from her face, leaving the once sweet looking girl to look more or less like a dehydrated vampire.

"The silent auction is now a taboo topic, nobody talks about it in front of Jeri." Kenta explained to the cameras, "But as much as they try to hide their conversations, Jeri knows they are talking about her. Who wouldn't?"

Kenta grimaced softly, closing his eyes for a few seconds before continuing his confessional.

"I don't know which side I am on. I want to believe Jeri because she is my friend, but I can't do that. My gut and my logic all tell me that she is indeed the guiltiest player here. Nobody else is responsible for a whooping $39,000 out of the pot except for her. I can't trust Jeri, I just can't."

"I hate snow," murmured Jeri, her coluorless lips quivering due to the cold. Kenta quietly nodded his head in response. His head was hooded under a thick awkward orange jacket, with only his glasses visible from the hood. From a distance, he gave a funny resemblance to Kenny from South Park.

While the two Tamers were standing by the evergreen tree and trying to evade from the snow, the other four players were in the open as they unloaded their suitcases out of trunk of the mini-bus.

"Are we really going to live in this house?" Gary asked, dragging his black suitcase out of the bus. He was wearing a speckled headband around his head and covered in a long black trench coat. In front of him was a regular two storey residential house, completed with one driveway and a snowy front lawn, just like all the other houses in a typical suburban neighbourhood. 

"Yes, and we'll be staying here until the end of the game," Yamaki replied as he helped Misty carry her blue suitcase out of the bus trunk.

"I'm glad we don't need to live in a hotel anymore," said Misty. The Cerulean gym leader was wearing a sparkling pink jacket, accompanied by a pair of Togepi-shaped earmuffs around her ears and matching pink boots.

"I love snow!" Jessie sighed dreamily as she reminiscence her childhood in the Alps. The sassy diva opened her mouth widely, hoping to catch a few snowflakes on her tongue. "I feel so alive here!"

With suitcases and bags in their hands, the group made their way to the door of the residential house. Before Yamaki could even find the keys in his jacket, the door suddenly sprang open, followed by six voices screaming in joyful unison.

"SURPRISE!"

"Holy crap!" Matt exclaimed in delight, "TK? What are you doing here?"

"KAZU!" Kenta's face lit up as he caught the glimpse of his best friend behind TK's head. "And Takato is here too!"

"I figure that some of you might be homesick by now," Yamaki said, "So we brought in your friends and family members to live with you guys in this house for the next two days."

"Awesome! This is so neat!" Kenta grinned like a boy who just woke up on Christmas day.

"Let's go in the house and I'll give you some time to get acquainted with each-"

"AHEM!" Jessie cleared her throat in interruption, breaking off Yamaki's words in half-way. "I'd like everybody to pay attention to this special announcement please."__

Oh gawd, I know what's coming. Misty rolled her eyes and turned to look at Gary, who wore an amused smirk on his face. They both knew what was going on.

"Prepare for a trouble attack!" 

"Make that double because James is back!" James squealed in his usual high pitched voice, shoving his body away from the crowded door to reunite with his old partner Jessie. Then the two villains suddenly started to dance together in a set of choreography moves they had memorized in their heads.

"To find the Mole before all these losers!"

"To plant some doubt on all those accusers!"

"I will win the money using sins and lies!"

"Watch out! She has an eye for all guys!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket has their fingers wrapped around this game!"

"Surrender now before we put you to shame!"

"WOBBUFFET!" exclaimed the blue blobby pokemon that jumped out of James's pokeball on cue and saluted to the crowd.

The others watched with their jaws dropped in absolute astonishment. The two Ishida brothers even clapped at the duo's spectacular performance. But standing at the back of the group, Misty Waterflower was not impressed with the motto routine she had unfortunately seen oh-too-many-times. In fact, she was a little appalled at what Jessie and James just did.__

Leave it up to Jessie and James to make such a big scene and dramatic entrance.

Misty sighed. Some things _never_ change.

* * *

The weak winter sunrays were beaming through the windows of the cozy living room, as the twelve players were gathered inside the house for the next set of instructions. Some sat on couches, while others found comfort on the carpet. Daisy Waterflower was sitting awfully close to Matt Ishida, batting her eyelids flirtatiously to the oblivious blonde. Her sister Misty was rolling her eyes in dismay, trying to hide the fact that her older sister was ruining her family's good name.

Yamaki entered the living room. All twenty four eyes turned towards the host as he started to address the group.

"As you could see, your family and friends have come to visit you, but…" Yamaki smirked.

"This doesn't sound good," muttered Misty.

"If the group comes to a unanimous decision that they'd rather add $10,000 into the pot, then all your family and friends will leave immediately. You have one minute to discuss about a decision, group."

Kenta grimaced. He didn't want to be separated from his friends already! _It had only been five minutes, and they were going to leave again!?_

"There are other chances to earn money," said Matt, putting his arm around TK's shoulder, "And I think seeing our family is way more important than ten grand in the pot."

"I agree with Matt one hundred percent," Kenta said as he bobbled his head.

"Oh definitely, Matt!"

"Yeah, good point."

"I'll go with the majority."

Gary Oak folded his arms and glared at the other players with ridicule. He was the only person yet to voice in consent. He clearly didn't see their broken logic about this matter. Why weren't these people trying to add money into the pot instead? And when Gary saw something that he didn't agree with, he sure as hell wasn't going to let it die down easily.

"I for one think that we should take the money into the pot," Gary objected, "Sorry gramps, but this game is drawing near a close and we need all the money in the pot as we can get."

"Gary, Gary, Gary…" Matt shook his head and sighed. "I know you don't have a single human emotion in your scrawny body, but the rest of us do and this family visit means a lot to many of us."

"Yeah, I'm getting homesick." Kenta grinned.

"You big wuss!" Kazu gave Kenta a noogie in the head and laughed.

"But don't you realize what you guys are doing?" Gary glanced at the other five players with a raised eyebrow, "We can add $10,000 into the pot right now! Doesn't anybody see my point?"

"Gary, we see your point." Misty said, trying to stay calm and polite even though she wanted to staple Gary's big mouth shut. "But what you don't understand is that we want to see our family and friends. We can earn this money at other times."

"I think you are making a big mistake out of this." Gary rolled his eyes. "You guys are just helping the Mole take money away from the pot."

"You know, that punk does have a point," said Daisy in her matter-of-fact voice.

"Sis! Whose side are you on?"

"Hey, that's just my opinion. If you are going to win this game, then I want the pot to grow as big as possible."

"Exactly my point! It's nice to find someone here with common sense!" Gary smirked.

"Well, let's take a vote." Matt suggested, "Who wants our family members to stay at the house?"

It wasn't even close. Gary's persuasion had no impact on the other players at all. With five hands raised in the air, the verdict was very clear. Gary was in the minority of group decisions, once again.__

Fools. Gary thought in his head and shrugged. _Whatever._

"Okay. For the price of keeping your friends and family here, you have sacrificed a possible $10,000 away from the pot," said Yamaki.****

POT: $168,000/$310,000

"Our next challenge will be the biggest challenge yet," Yamaki declared, "But first, I need the six players to divide into two teams of three: Heroes and Villains."

True to her nature, Jessie raised her hand immediately to be a villain. "I am the biggest badass in the game, for crying out loud!" She cried, with a squealing James snickering maliciously beside her.

"Kenta, you gotta be the hero!" Kazu playfully jabbed his friends in the ribs. "I want to kick the bad guys' butts!"

"But Kazu, we don't even know what the challenge is about!" Takato reminded his impulsive friend.

"Ah, what the heck…I'll be a hero," Kenta modestly grinned. Jeri joined Kenta's side without a moment of hesitance. She wanted nowhere in the proximity of the vile Jessie.

"We need one more self-proclaimed hero," said Matt. He turned to Gary and Misty, "I'll go on the Hero's team unless one of you wants to."

Gary shrugged his shoulders casually, not showing any particular preference for either team. Misty just smiled cheerfully and gave a diplomatic answer with little substance, like the way she always does.

"Actually Ishida," Jessie's lips curled to a wicked smirk, "I want you to be on my team."

"Really?" Matt raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise.

"I don't know if you are a villain or not, but I sure know you ain't a hero around here, pretty. Come join the dark side." Jessie chuckled and winked at the handsome blonde.

"Okay then, you win. I am a villain." Matt ran a hand through his hair. "A very sexy villain, that is." He laughed and returned an equally flirtatious wink to the Team Rocket member. He knew she was flirting with him. It was _so_ blatant that even TK caught on to it by now.

And if there was one thing TK knew about his older brother, Matt was not someone to deny an engaging preposition from a seductive woman.

"I'll be on the hero's team," said Misty.

"Good. The hero's team and the villain's team will be living in two adjacent houses together for the next three days in this challenge. This is the hero's headquarter. So villains and their family members, bring your bags, we're heading to the house next door," said Yamaki, already heading for the door.

Although confused, the three villains obediently followed the host along with their family members. Matt waved a small goodbye to the remaining players before leaving the house. And soon the front door was shut, the group of twelve quickly trimmed down to half a dozen.

"Dude, how wicked is this!?" Kazu grinned excitedly, "We have our own slamming headquarter for the challenge! We're so going to kick the bad guys' butts!"

"Kazu, we don't even know what this challenge is about yet," Kenta reminded him.

"So what? We are still going to win, right?" Kazu playfully jabbed his friend in the ribs.

"Right…"

Meanwhile, the other team arrived at their personal headquarter. The two houses looked almost identical, except that this house was clearly darker. None of the windows were opened and none of the curtains were drawn. It was clear that they will be living in darkness.

"This place looks awful," James said, shaking his head in disgust. "Just because we are fat stinking scoundrels doesn't mean we actually have to live like one too."

"Please get settled in your new headquarter," said Yamaki, ignoring the unnecessary interjection. He took out three black envelopes from his suit pocket, "Each player will take an envelope. Somebody will receive a very special role in the upcoming challenge. Go open it in your rooms and do NOT show it to anybody."

Jessie picked first, choosing the envelope that was the farthest away from her reach. Matt took the second envelope which has an odd red sticker at the right corner, which leaves Gary as the owner of the slightly wrinkled envelope.

"I must repeat this. Do not show your envelope to anybody but yourself."

* * *

Jeri was once again staring out the window in silence.

The lonely girl was sitting on a leather armchair, ignoring the loud chattering and joyous laughter in the living room. She wanted no part of the happiness. May be she wasn't in the right mood, or this wasn't the right time…but for some reason, Jeri Katou just wanted to be alone. She could not indulge herself into any social scene right now.

Especially after what Jessie did to her.__

Ugh.

"I was a little bummed out to see Jeri acting so sad," Takato confessed, feeling slightly uncomfortable talking to a camera. "Whatever they did to her, it must have left a huge scar on her emotions. She is a mess right now, and it tears me apart to see her like that."

Jeri had not spoken one word to Takato since his arrival.

"Her silence speaks volumes," the goggle-headed boy muttered, feeling a little hurt and concerned for his friend.

As Jeri sank in her pool of depression, her three Tamer friends were getting dressed up in their winter attire to play in the snow outside. Despite their friend's glum attitude, the three boys were wrapped up in jokes and juvenile conversations. Kenta was in the butt of many of their jokes, but he didn't seem to mind. He was delighted to be with his friends again.

"Kazu, you owe me ten bucks." Takato grinned as he put on his cotton wool hat. "Kenta is still in this game."

"What!? You were betting against me!?" Kenta exclaimed, "I can't believe it!"

"Dude, I thought that you would cry and drop out of the game on the first day! You totally exceeded my expectations!" Kazu laughed, quickly joined in by Kenta and Takato.

"Are you sure you aren't coming, Jeri?" Takato asked, flashing a worried glance at the pale little girl.

"Yeah, it's going to be fun, Jeri! Come with us!" Kenta added in an encouraging tone. But he knew what the answer was going to be. Jeri just wasn't ready.

"No, it's okay. Go on without me. Have fun, guys!" Jeri answered, without turning her glance from the window.

"Aww, party pooper." Kazu stuck out his tongue and skipped out of the doorway. With one last concerned look at Jeri, Kenta and Takato followed.

As soon as they got outside, Kazu rolled up two snowballs from the ground, snickering as he threw each at Takato and Kenta's heads. The two Tamers playfully shoved Kazu into the field of snow.

"Dude, what's up with Jeri though?" Kazu asked as he struggled to get up from the snow.

"She is acting…really different," Takato muttered, his eyes trailing back at the door.

"It's a long story," Kenta shook his head, "You guys don't want to hear about it."

"Man, just talking about her makes me feel sad! It's like she is hiding something from us, you know? Why would she avoid from us like that?" Kazu frowned slightly, scratching his head like a monkey.

Suddenly the laughter and noise ceased between the three boys as an awkward silence suddenly flown between them. Finally, Takato asked in a very solemn and soft voice.

"Kenta, is Jeri the Mole?"

The boy in glasses was caught off guard. He stammered through his words, a habit he always did when he was nervous. 

"I-I don't know, Takato. I honestly don't know."

Silence again.

"Dudes!" Kazu broke the ice, throwing another snowball at Kenta. "Screw the game! Let's have some fun while we are out here!"

"Yeah!" Kenta chuckled, shaking his thoughts away from his coalition partner. "Can we build a snowman!?"

"I want to make Snow-Guilmon!" Takato laughed, adjusting his goggles.

"Or a wicked snow fort!" Kenta chimed in.

"Ooh, I know!" Kazu grinned, "Let's throw snowballs at that pretty boy and his metrosexual brother!"

"Huh? But Matt is a nice guy!"

"He might be a nice guy," Kazu's lips curled to a wicked grin, "But that doesn't stop him from looking like he is in a frigging boy band."

* * *

The villains soon found their sleeping arrangement in the headquarter to be quite inconvenient. Although there were two double beds in each of the three rooms, the right amount for the six of them, there was a concerning issue with the sole female of the house. She did not want to share a bed or even sleep in the same room with one of the five men.

"There is always a problem revolving around Jessie. _ Always_." Gary said in his confessional, "She will bitch about the tiniest thing and make a huge blowout spectacle about it. Find the tiniest chip on a bridge and she will bitch about it. I'll tell you flat out, I have no respect for over the top drama queens like her."

"Guys, I have back problems. I have to sleep on a bed," James had explained.

"That's how Team Rocket is," Gary continued venting to the cameras, "Selfish people who only look out for themselves. Crooks will always behave like crooks."

So the men were left with a problem, one of them doesn't have a bed. Somebody was going have to sleep elsewhere.

"You sleep on the bed, gramps. I'll sleep on the couch in the living room," Gary said to his grandfather.

"No, it's okay Gary. You need the comfort of the bed much more than I do," said the legendary Professor Oak.

"Gramps, I'm giving you the bed, and I don't want to hear anything more about it," Gary said, taking his black suitcase as he left the room.

"I'm sure your grandson will be fine. Gary is a tough cookie." Matt said as he patted the famous Pokemon professor on the back.

"He's a good kid. He acts tough on the outside, but he really does have a nice heart inside." Professor Oak smiled for a brief second before excusing himself out of the room.

"What a delusional old man…if he only knew what the real Gary is like," Matt muttered, slowly unpacking clothes from his green suitcase.

"So how's the game treating you?" TK casually asked, plopping a seat on the bed.

"It's all good," Matt lifted his two thumbs up in the air and grinned. "Your brother is quite the popular guy around here."

"I'm not surprised." TK smirked.

"I have three coalitions in this game," Matt ran his hand through his hair, "Five before Yolei and Sora were executed."

"Ooh, what happened to them?"

"I don't know. Neither of them was really focused during the game," Matt shrugged as if the two names meant nothing to him, "But anyway, I've been meaning to bring my coalition number up to four."

"So you're going to make a new coalition?"

"Yeah…it's either Kenta or Jessie. Seriously bro, I'm thinking that the Mole is between the two of them."

"Really? Who's the Mole then?"

"Kenta is a bit of a flake and we have nothing in common whatsoever, but that kid is acting so freaking suspicious in every challenge. He only won one challenge out of like ten so far, for crying out loud. But nobody blames Kenta though, because he is so damn quiet and under the radar."

"Are you sure? Kenta looks like such a nice kid."

"I know. He is very self-deprecating. You can make fun of him and he'll still laugh about it with you. But at the same time you can't help but feel bad for the guy."

Matt paused a second and exhaled a long deep sigh.

"And then there is Jessie, the enigma. She has one of the worst challenge record out of everybody here it's not even funny. Sometimes I think she deliberately sabotages the pot just for the fun of it. May be she is just stirring the pot because she's one big bad bitch, or she is the Mole. But I'm going to find out. I'm going to form a coalition with the sassy diva."

"Uh…Jessie?" TK raised his eyebrows at his brother, "She isn't the type of player I'd hang around with. That woman has trouble written all over her."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer."

"Ahh, I see." TK flashed his set of white pearls in a charming grin much like his brother, "You are playing a great game."

"Besides, aren't you forgetting something, little bro? I _luvvv_ trouble."

"Make that double?" TK chuckled.

* * *

Misty Waterflower hesitated in front of the cameras. She was requested to record a camera confessional right now, but it was tricky to capture her feelings into precise words. Although she did a good job of hiding her emotions in this game, the perky Cerulean gym leader was upset. All of her friends – Ash, Yolei, and Tracey – had been executed in a rapid succession. Misty just found out that each of her friends' execution is growing progressively more difficult to handle.

"It's just so hard to see the people you are close with get executed," Misty confessed, "I know it's a part of the game, but that doesn't make it any easier."

But Misty was not a girl to sob over her sorrows. She wasn't going to cry over spilt milk. Just like the gutsy showing she demonstrated by turning down Yamaki's proposal last night, Misty was a stubborn competitor. Even if the going gets tough, Misty was not willing to back down.

"Oh well, I guess I just have to suck it up," Misty gently smiled to the cameras. "I played too hard and put too much effort in this game to be executed now. No way am I giving up to be defeated by the likes of Jessie or Gary. There's no way." 

Misty returned to reviewing her journal under the solitary of her own room. Her journal was messy, full with scribbles and scratches all across the page. It probably wasn't legible to anybody else, but that was Misty Waterflower's style. She was just about to write something until her beautiful blonde sister trotted in the room carrying a small case of nail polish.

"Mind if I sit beside you?" Daisy asked, "I'll look a lot prettier on camera if you are on screen with me." Misty rolled her eyes.

"I'm just teasing you, you know that right?" Daisy laughed, pinching the cheek of her little sister. Misty humored her with a dry chuckle, but she cannot pull herself together to please her annoying older sister.

Suddenly the pair of sisters could hear a loud shuffling of footsteps rushing up the stairs. They belonged to the wacky duo of Kazu and Kenta, who were still dressed in their winter jackets. Kenta's glasses were blurry, and there was still a little trace of frost on his hair.

"Have either of you seen Takato?" Kazu asked, shaking off his right glove.

"I haven't seen him since you guys left to play outside," replied Misty, closing her journal. Daisy nodded her head in consent.

"That's strange." Kenta mumbled, "We have been playing hide-and-seek outside for an hour now and we can't find Takato."

"Where is that little bugger!? We figured that he crawled back into the house, but where is he?" Kazu shouted and tossed his gloves on the air to express his frustration.

"Come on Kazu, have we looked in the basement yet? We need to find him before the next challenge begins," said Kenta, although his voice wasn't very reassuring. The two boys picked up the gloves and slowly marched down the stairs again, searching aimlessly for their missing goggle-headed friend.

Little did they know that the challenge had already begun, and finding where Takato was would be a _lot_ harder than they could imagine.

* * *

"Heeheeheeheehee!"

Jessie and James were lounging on the armchairs in the basement as the two partners in crime exchanged endless chitchats and laughs. Now that she was in the comfort of heat conditioning, Jessie was dressed in a tiny black blouse and a tight red leather skirt that was way too short and revealing. In Jessie's eyes of course, it was a perfectly appropriate outfit as far as she was concerned.

"Don't tell me that you actually made a girl cry in this game!" James laughed, almost choking as he smacked his fist into his legs, 

"I did, and I'm damn proud of it. You should have seen her, James. She was _so_ obnoxious," Jessie gloated.

James giggled hysterically. _ Making a girl cry!? That's so typical Jessie!_

"How about the skinny twerp? She didn't cause you any trouble in this game, did she?"

"Of the four people executed, three of them were the twerp's annoying clique of friends. I'm starting to think that she is a carrier of bad fortune. If you try to be friendly with that twerp, you get executed!"

"In that case, you should be very safe!"

"Hell yeah!" Jessie chuckled.

"What about the blonde?" James asked, leaning forward, "He seems to be a little sweet on you, if you know what I mean."

"After seeing his cute little brother, I can assure you that good looks run in his family." Jessie grinned mischievously. "I wonder if they're good in bed."

"Naughty!" James disrupted, wagging his finger in her face playfully, "That's not what I mean!"

"All perverted thoughts aside, I think Matt is the Mole."

"You do?"

"He's a schmoozer. All those girls have already fallen under his spell, and I think some of the guys are too. Everyone in this game is being manipulated by Matt Ishida and nobody knows about it."

"Except for you, of course." James corrected.

"Well obviously, had you expected any less from _moi?_" Jessie laughed, gesturing her hand to her bosom.

"Ooh la la! Tout savoir!" James giggled.

Suddenly the laughter was cut abruptly when they both felt a third person's presence in the tiny basement. Jessie looked up. It was Matt Ishida, wearing his usual trademark white-teeth grin.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the man himself," James said, scanning Matt with his eyes up and down. "Mister Ishida, how can we help you?"

"I'd like to talk to Jessie in private if I can."

"Whatever you want to say to me, you can say to James too," Jessie snapped, lingering her fingers around her blouse. Slowly, she began to unbutton her blouse.

"Jessie!" James gasped as he caught onto what his friend was doing.

A grin slowly appeared on the blonde's face as he nodded, marching closer and closer to where Jessie was sitting. Something about her gestures indicated to him that this was going to be a completely different approach than Misty and Jeri and Yolei. He knew Jessie was not falling for his flowery flattery that charmed so well with the other players.

"I want a coalition. Me and you in the finals."

Flattering words weren't going to work on her. Jessie wanted _action._

"So you want a coalition?" Jessie smiled wickedly as she got up from her seat, "Kiss me, and then we'll talk."

James gasped.

"You are a woman with lots of requests," he smirked, quickly rebounding from the overwhelming request.

"You are a man with lots of needs," Jessie replied. "And I don't want those fluffy pecks on the cheek kisses. I want your tongue locked in my beautiful mouth."

"Kiss me, you fool."

"Let me be clear about this. If I kiss you, then you will have a coalition with me?" Matt asked.

"You're going to chicken out, Ishida. I can see it in your eyes." Jessie slowly shook her head in disappointment, "You can't betray your girlfriend Sora, ya big schmuck."

"Answer my question. Yes or no?" Matt's husky voice was sterner, manlier and much fiercer. 

"Yes if you kiss me."

And he did.

For a second, their lips pressed against each other, making slippery and intimate contact. She can feel the inside of his lips sucking in all the lipstick she had applied earlier. It was gentle yet rough at the same time. But the pleasure only lasted for a few moments before Matt pulled his face away.

"Even a committed man can't resist my sensational beauty, tsk tsk." Jessie smirked. "You got guts, Ishida. I like that in a man. The deal is on."

"Good." Matt said, wiping the smeared lipstick off his face.

"You missed a spot!" James edged in. But Matt was already gone from the basement.

"Holy Wobbuffet, I'm impressed!" Jessie grinned as soon as she heard the basement door slammed shut, "I didn't expect that kiss. I was totally bluffing on all the bullshit spewing out of my mouth."

"He's desperate, totally desperate," said James, his eyes opened wide in shock.

"And best of all, Matt just exposed his hand to me. The fact that he was willing to betray his commitment to his girlfriend just to have a coalition with me meant a lot."

"Huh? I don't get it, Jessie."

"James, my naïve and incompetent dear…" Jessie maliciously winked to him and to the cameras, "Can't you see what just happened? It was the kiss of death."

* * *

Takato Matsuda was officially gone.

He was missing for four hours already. Nobody had seen him. Nobody knew about his whereabouts. Basically nobody knew where this quiet and mild mannered Tamer was.__

Where is Takato? What could have happened!? Jeri was nearly in tears again as she joined the search with Kazu and Kenta around the house. They looked everywhere, but the boy could not be found. It was as if he vanished into thin air…

"Takato isn't someone to just leave like that," said Kenta, adjusting his glasses. "Something must have happened to him. Somebody must have done something nasty to him."

"No shit, Sherlock," muttered Kazu.

"Have you guys looked outside? He _is_ a foreigner in Canada, you know," suggested Misty.

The trio of Tamers was about to search outside in the streets for the fifth time, Yamaki suddenly emerged at the door. Behind him followed the three villains and their family members, all intact.

"I think most of us have heard by now that Takato is missing for the past few hours," said Yamaki. "Or in a better phrasing, Takato Matsuki was kidnapped."

"What!?" Kazu almost choked hearing those words from the host.

"Impossible!" Kenta added.

"It was part of a challenge. Each of the villains received a black envelope, correct?"

Although slightly confused, all of the three villains nodded.

"Inside one of the envelopes, one of you was given a special role in this challenge as a kidnapper. That person's job is to kidnap one family member and lock them away in a secure place. So far, the kidnapper had succeeded."

"This is all part of a challenge?" Jeri asked.

"Yep, if the kidnapping case is successful, the kidnapper will win an exemption for the next quiz, but…" Yamaki smirked, "The three heroes are now in charge of investigating the kidnapping of Takato Matsuki. Who is the kidnapper?"

"Way cool," Kazu grinned.

"Detective Kenta, Detective Kasumi and Detective Juri…" Yamaki said, "One of the three there is a kidnapper, and it's up to your job to find out who it is in the next twenty four hours. You will be given one chance to identify the kidnapper. If done successfully, you will add $75,000 into the pot."

"Whoa," Matt whispered under his breath in amazement.

"And if the detective successfully finds out who the kidnapper is, the kidnapper will not only lose their exemption but also lose two points in their next quiz."

"Wow," Matt whispered again.

"So the stakes for this challenge are very high for the detectives," Yamaki stared sternly at a nervous Kenta, "And the kidnapper. At this time on the next day, the three detectives need to detect who the kidnapper is."

Kenta grimaced, feeling the peer pressure layering on him again. He already failed a challenge before from yesterday, and once again the players relied on him _again_ to add a huge sum of money into the pot. He couldn't fail them, twice. He just couldn't.

"Have a nice day," Yamaki concluded.

Kenta turned his head to analyze the ten people surrounding him, all looking either shocked or amused. It was hard to distinguish guilty from innocent from the eerie look on their faces. Even the awestruck gaze on his best friend Kazu's face was indistinguishable from everyone else. And suddenly, something became very clear to Detective Kitagawa…

Everybody was a suspect.

* * *

Inside the basement, the three heroes along with Daisy and Kazu were discussing strategy for the investigation. Kazu was dressed in a long grey trench coat, accompanied by a black walking cane and plastic brown pipe in his mouth.

"Kazu, are you trying to be Sherlock Holmes?" Kenta narrowed his beady eyes at his best friend.

"Don't I look like the part?" Kazu grinned, although his words are jumbled together. It was hard for him to speak when there was a plastic brown pipe sticking out of his big mouth.

"I pity your sad attempt," Daisy shook her head and chuckled.

"I think the most important thing is to set a timeframe," said Misty, "We need to know when Takato was missing and what the three suspects were doing during that time." 

"We know Takato was missing since noon," said Kenta, running through the facts in his journal.

"Kenta and I were playing hide and seek together right after we ate lunch at noon. I found Kenta in a minute or less, but Takato…was missing." Kazu added.

"So you guys haven't seen him since noon?"

"I don't know where he hid," Kenta shrugged. "That was the last time I saw Takato."

"Did any of you see something suspicious from Jessie, Gary or Matt?" Jeri asked.

"That reminds me! I saw Gary and his grandfather leave the house around twelve thirty," Kenta said. "I remembered because I asked Professor Oak for an autograph."

"Dude, you're such a geek!" Kazu laughed.

"When did they come back?" Jeri asked.

"I don't know…I didn't see them returning." Kenta shrugged again.

"Matt came around our house at one o'clock," said Misty. "He wanted to talk to me about something."

"What? How come I don't know about this? The stud came over and you didn't tell me about it?" Daisy suddenly perked with interest.

"Anyway," Misty ignored her sister, "I think he left our house around four…I don't know if it helps the case or not, but it's an interesting tidbit to know."

"Anyone see Jessie and James do anything suspicious?" Jeri asked, "I'm most concerned about them. They are criminals and could easily pull off a kidnapping case like this."

"I agree, I think Team Rocket is the most suspicious," Misty shivered, "As if Jessie wasn't bad enough solo…"

"None of us saw them leave the house though," said Kenta.

"I still think they are the most suspicious," Misty folded her arms and frowned. "Criminals will always be criminals. They've done plenty of stuff before when kidnapping Pikachu."

"I _know._ But can we really judge them in this challenge based on their past? It doesn't sound very fair to me," said Kenta timidly.

"You're right, Kenta. I am a bit biased after all." Misty smiled, "I think it's best if we interrogate them all separately and try to see if their stories match up. Whoever is lying probably has something to hide."

* * *

Gary Oak was marching down the stairs to the basement of the Heroes' headquarter. He was the first person sent for an interrogation.

"This mystery challenge is pretty cool. I am disappointed for not being the detective, because I would have solved this case in a jiffy. May be it's a good thing, I would have taken all the fun away from the challenge." Gary admitted to the cameras.

"Personally, I don't have high hopes for them in this challenge," said Gary, carrying the trademark conceited smirk on his face. "But I'll be pleased if they prove me wrong. I'll be shocked, but also very pleased."

"I'll try to help him with the best that I can." Gary knocked at the door to the basement. While waiting for a response, he noticed the two dark brown stains on the carpet. Tiny things like that always captured his attention. Being the grandson of the legendary professor, Gary was unsurprisingly very detail-oriented. It was the trait that kept him at this stage of the game.

"I think that's the reason why they wanted to ask me questions first. He knows I am good with details and will help out the case a lot," Gart concluded his confessional.

"Come in," hissed a low and ominous voice coming in from the room.

Immediately entering upon the alleged room, the door immediately slammed close behind him. The lights were all suddenly flicked off. Gary was trapped in total darkness.

"What the-" He began to curse. A small lamp on a desk then turned on, dimly illuminating the room.

"Are you the kidnapper!?" Kazu suddenly appeared behind him, shouting into his ear.

"No." Gary calmly replied, remaining perfectly unnerved.

"Are you lying!?"

"No."

"Okay, that's all I've got," Kazu shrugged his shoulders and collapsed into a seat beside Kenta. "He's innocent, I tell you."

"Welcome, Gary. Please ignore Kazu's frat antics and take a seat," said Kenta, who was sitting on the other side of the desk. Gary took a seat across from Kenta, feeling slightly weary of the situation.

"So where were you at eleven o'clock today?"

"I spent the entire morning talking with Gramps. We played a few games of backgammon together."

"When did you eat lunch?"

"Noon. You asked him for an autograph, remember? You saw us leave."

"What kind of lunch?" Kazu asked while chewing on his plastic pipe.

"Hamburgers and a bottle of pop, if you are so inclined to know every aspect of my meal."

"Dude, I'm getting hungry," Kazu said, rubbing his tummy.

"When did you come back for lunch?" Kenta asked.

"We came back at two o'clock. Gramps needed to make a call to the laboratory to see if everything is going alright."

"Gary, did you see anything oddly suspicious about Matt or Jessie today?" Kenta asked.

"When we came back to our house, nobody was there. It was only Gramps and me. That was kind of weird because everybody was in the house before we left."

"Where did everybody go?" Kenta asked.

"I don't know."

"You _do_ know!" Kazu accused and pounded his fist on the desk, "Now fess up!"

"Talking with you is an insult to my intelligence."

"You are avoiding the question," Kazu smirked, as if he won the verbal war.

"That's because I don't know the answer."

"When did everybody come back?" Kenta asked.

"I don't remember seeing Team Rocket come back, but I know Matt's little brother came back home at two thirty."

"Holy crap!" Kazu exclaimed. "One of them must be the kidnapper!"

"Oh gee, how did you figure that one out, Sherlock?" Kenta said in a sarcastic tone.

"Elementary, my dear Watson!" Kazu patted Kenta on the back jokingly.

"You do know that Sherlock Holmes never said that in the novels, right?" Gary raised an eyebrow, with an amused smirk on his face. He got up and was walking toward the door before Kazu exclaimed back,

"And do you know what this means, smartass?"

Kazu flipped him the bird.

* * *

Misty and Jeri welcomed TK into the basement for his interrogation. Unlike the boys before them, the two girls made the basement into a very friendly environment with bright lights and even soft music in the background.

TK flashed a charming grin, running a hand through his spiky blonde hair. He was Matt Ishida's younger brother after all, so obviously he carried some of his brother's charisma.

"Hello ladies."

"So TK," Misty began, tapping her fingers on the notepad in front of her. Jeri was already writing something down in her journal. "Tell us about your events since arrival."

"Matt and I have been talking and watching some television together during the whole morning. Uh…I got kind of hungry around eleven o'clock so I ordered some Chinese take-out."

Jeri scribbled something down in her journal as TK continued.

"So we ate lunch around twelve. An hour later or so later, I took a shower. And then after that, I stayed in my room and had a good afternoon nap. I didn't know where Matt went though."

"Did you go out at all today?"

"Not unless you count the short trips between the two headquarters when we met for the challenge," TK shook his head. "I don't like going outside when it's freezing."

"When did your brother come back?"

"I don't know, but he woke me up around five and told me to get dressed for the challenge meeting or something."

"Did you notice anything suspicious about Gary or Team Rocket in the house?"

"I don't know about Team Rocket, although they seem like shady people. But Gary woke me up a few times during my nap to ask me where Matt was."

"Do you know why?" Misty asked.

"Not really, but Gary said it was urgent though."

"Very interesting…well, thanks for your help, TK."

As soon as TK left the room, Misty turned to Jeri and asked, "What do you think?"

"Well," Jeri murmured as she referred back to her journal notes, "I don't think TK has any reason to lie to us less Matt is the kidnapper, and he does seem genuinely honest."

"Yeah, me too. But his story doesn't match up with Gary's at all. Gary said that TK was gone from the house when he came back, but TK said that he never left the house today."

Misty closed her eyes and paused for a moment while collecting her new thoughts.

"At least one of them was lying…"

* * *

James did not like the situation he was in. Locked in the basement with that feisty redhead twerp was never a good indicator of good things from him…

"Okay fess up, you." Misty wagged her finger in front of the blue haired Team Rocket member. "What did you do today?"

"I was talking with Jessie in the basement the entire day."

"You're lying." Misty cocked her eyebrows up, "You left the house today."

"Merciful heavens! How did you find out!?" James gasped, slamming his hand toward his mouth.

"I have my sources…" said Misty mysteriously, then she raised her voice to a sharp tone. "Don't lie anymore, James!"

"Okay, okay. So Jessie and I followed the professors for lunch. We wanted to steal the key to Professor Oak's lab, so we followed their every move."

"And…?"

"We followed them for two hours, but to no prevail. When they returned home, we sneaked back in."

"So what did the Gary eat for lunch?"

"He ate a hamburger and a medium sized cup of Pepsi," James informed, "And the professor ordered a cheeseburger and a small bag of fries."

"Hmm, anything else after that?"

"Jessie and I gossiped some more in the basement, that's it."

"Did you notice anything suspicious about Matt or Gary?"

"Coming from a guy who lives on suspicion, I'll say they were pretty normal."

"Anything else you want to add?" Misty asked.

"Actually there is one more thing…" James sneered.

"What?"

"I think Matt will explain it a lot better than I could…"

* * *

"Hello, Sherlock."

"And you must be Watson, right Kenta?" Matt chuckled as he took a seat in the dark basement, "Cute…_real_ cute."

"You shall refer to us as Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson, pretty boy." Kazu snapped angrily.

"Excuuuuuse me. Sheesh." Matt made a face, "What's with the dark room anyway? Is this for atmosphere?"

"We are the one asking the questions around here!"

"So Matt," Kenta picked up his pen and asked, "What did you do at eleven today?"

"I was watching something on the tube with my little brother."

"No two sane guys can be in a room for so long without watching por-" Kazu leant forward in interest.

"KAZU! You can ignore that question, Matt."

"Okay, but if Kazu is interested, he can borrow the video after this interview," Matt winked mischievously, "Just kidding."

"What did you guys do after that?"

"I was pretty hungry, so we called take-out for lunch."

"Was there anybody else in the house there?"

"Everybody was still in the house."

"Okay," Kenta nodded his head, "What did you do after lunch?"

"I went outside for a walk alone."

"Alone? Hmm…what time was that?"

"I didn't have a watch with me," Matt said, running a hand through his hair, "I'm guessing around one o'clock or so. And then I paid a visit to your house by one thirty to talk with Misty. I didn't leave until four thirty."

"What were you doing between the times of one o'clock to one thirty?" Kenta asked puzzlingly.

"I told you already, I was taking a walk."

"That's it?"

"Uh yeah, that's it."

"Did you notice anything strange about Gary or Jessie?" Kenta asked.

"When I returned home, Gary was waiting at the door for me. It was kind of creepy," replied Matt, twiddling his fingers together.

"Why? What did you guys talk about?"

"Coalition stuff."

"Well, thanks for your time Matt." Matt got up from his seat and started heading for the door until Kazu chased after him.

"Hey Matt, you said that I can borrow-"

"KAZU!"

* * *

"Thanks for taking the time to be here, professor, this should be quick." Misty smiled courteously. The professor returned the polite gesture.

"No problem. Anything I can help with?"

"For starters," Misty started, "Can you tell us what you did this entire day?"

"I went to McDonald's with Gary around noon. We came back around one thirty or two o'clock. And then I have to make an important phone call back to the laboratory. It took at least two hours."

"Okay…did you notice anything weird about the players?"

"Yes, I was glad that you mentioned it." Professor Oak rubbed his chin, "When I was making my phone call in the living room, I remembered hearing a loud noise upstairs in one of the bedrooms. It was like a big thump or something."

"When did this happen?"

"It was around two thirty."

"Where was Team Rocket?" Misty asked.

"Oh…I don't know. I haven't seen them around for the whole day. I think they were in the basement, but I am not too sure…"

"Thanks for your help, professor."

* * *

Finally, the last player to be interviewed was Jessie.

The tall red haired diva slowly trotted down the stairs like a model on a catwalk. There was no need to rush in her mind. She had plenty of time! Step by step, she walked slowly down the stairs to the basement. Without knocking the door, she entered the basement.

Kazu was walking around the desk impatiently, turning his head in silence as the Team Rocket made entrance to the room. It was hard to not notice her. Jessie simply had an unavoidable presence about her.

That, and the fact she was in a really, really short mini-skirt that definitely caught Kazu's attention.

"Please take a seat, Jessie. We are almost over."

Jessie didn't make a reply to Kenta's request. She sat down, with one of her foot up on the desk. Kenta gulped. The tables were turned and it was the interrogator was going to be intimidated…by none other than the villainous Jessie.

"T-tell us a-b-bout your day," Kenta stammered.

"Chat with James in the basement, followed the arrogant twerp and his grandfather to McDonald's, tried to steal key, fail, return home, chat with James in the basement." Jessie replied, counting the list with her fingers. "Done."

"Uh…did Matt talk with you at any time today?"

"In the basement at eleven thirty. It only lasted a few minutes," Jessie licked her lips, "A few minutes and then he left."

"Okay so, what did Professor Oak eat for lunch?" Kazu questioned.

"Cheeseburger and a small bag of fries." Jessie did not miss a beat when answering.

"Did you notice anything strange around two-thirty this afternoon?"

"No."

"Did you notice TK around the house today?"

"No."

Suddenly Kazu interjected another impulsive question in.

"How much chance do I have a chance of dating you?"

"Not a chance in hell."

* * *

The eleven players were gathered at the heroes' headquarter where Yamaki was holding the final verdict. They were in the living room again, anxiously waiting for Yamaki to announce the results. Kenta in particular looked extremely nervous. He didn't want to lose another challenge again. He didn't want to fail the group again.

"Who kidnapped Takato? If you select the real kidnapper, you will add $75,000 into the pot, and the kidnapper will lose two points in the next quiz for failing." Yamaki said, "If you don't, the kidnapper will win an exemption."

"After going through the six interviews and comparing our notes," Misty said, "We realized that during the time of twelve thirty to two o'clock, Gary and Professor Oak were out of the house and ate lunch at McDonald's."

"Jessie and James proved that they were following them by knowing what they ate at the restaurant," Jeri continued the train of thoughts.

"So therefore, this means that TK and Matt had that entire period of time to kidnap Takato and destroy all the evidence," Kenta concluded. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Ishida brothers are…the kidnappers."

Matt raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. TK wore an uncomfortable look on his face and kept glancing at his brother for support.

"You think Takeru and Yamato are the kidnappers?" Yamaki confirmed.

"Yes, we do. Matt gave a very vague answer of what he was doing from one o'clock to one thirty," Misty said, "And TK's account simply did not match with anybody else's stories. They have to be the kidnappers."

"Okay then…" Yamaki smirked as he looked at Matt and TK, "May the real kidnappers please raise their hands?"

All eyes were targeted toward the two blonde brothers, hoping they would raise their hands. TK sighed and lifted his hand…to scratch his head. But alas, the Ishida brothers made no other movement.

Instead, it was Team Rocket who raised their hands.

"TA-DA!" James exclaimed in glee. "It was us!"

"Team Rocket rules, baby!" Jessie flashed a peace sign to the group.

"It was them!? But how?" Misty asked, feeing totally stupid for not going with her gut instincts. Deep down, she always suspected the nasty duo…but yet…

"Let me give you the whole story," James grinned, "Jessie and I dug our trademark hole in the ground and covered it with snow. The naïve twerp Takato fell right into our pit! Heehee!"

"You can't teach old dogs new tricks…" Gary chuckled at the irony, quickly joined by Professor Oak.

"The thing is that I was in the hole at the same time," Jessie continued, her sneer curling up to an evil nasty smirk, "I gagged and tied him up so he could not make any noise or escape. After patching up the opening again, we stayed in the pit for nearly an entire hour."

"Meanwhile, I followed Gary and Professor to McDonald's and spied on them. I made notes to what they did for lunch so we'll have an alibi," James giggled, "It was so easy! I just told Jessie what they ate and she memorized it! When you guys asked her what the professor ate, it was really what I told Jessie he ate!"

"The real icing on the cake is though…" Jessie's voice is almost sharpening to a cackle, "When Matt left the house at one o'clock to go who-knows-where, I realized that was the best time to strike. I think TK was in there taking a shower or something on the second floor, so he wouldn't hear me move around the house. I used that chance to take Takato from the hole into my room and lock him there. He is there right now."

"Oh, so that's why you wanted your own room!" Matt clapped his hands together, "Genius!"

"My idea!" James gloated.

"So congratulations, Musashi. You played the kidnapping case to a tee!" Yamaki said, "Not only will you receive an exemption this round, you will also know, as your letter informed, that I will add $25,000 into the pot for kidnapping Takato successfully."

"Ooh yeah!" Jessie whooped her hand up in the air. Some of the players clapped to hear that money was actually adding in the pot. It was a consolation prize in their minds.****

POT: $193,000/$410,000

"BUT however, please remember that I said specifically you cannot let anybody see your letter," Yamaki held up one finger and suddenly cutting down all the soft applause. "Musashi, you showed your letter to Kojiro, so therefore I must take a penalty of $5,000 off."

"What?" Jessie snapped "Bullshit!"

"We've got it on tape, Musashi. You weren't supposed to show your letter to anyone. This is the consequences for breaking the rules. So the pot now stands at $188,000."****

POT: $188,000/$410,000

Jessie sighed. Even at her highest moment, Yamaki has to take all the joy away. _Oh well,_ she thought. _I've got an exemption, at least._

But Kenta Kitagawa took the defeat extremely hard. He was staring at the floor, blaming himself for the loss with immense dissatisfaction. After losing to Gary in the Tentacruel challenge, Kenta swore to himself that he will not lose another challenge. This investigation challenge was supposed to be _his_ time to shine, _his _ time at a redemption.

Twice Kenta was given the time to redeem himself in front of the players. 

Twice he had failed.

"There will be an execution quiz tonight. One of you will be the Mole's fifth victim. Good luck," said Yamaki in a brief ending note.

The atmosphere was not festive at all. Suspicions were running everywhere in this game.

"We suffered a blowout loss today, and quite frankly, I blamed it on the so-called heroes. It was so obvious that the kidnappers have to be Jessie and James and they couldn't see it! Idiots!" Matt shook his head and rolled his eyes in a camera confessional, "Now we lost seventy five thousand dollars all thanks to the incompetence of Misty, Kenta and Jeri. The three fallen heroes."

"I pulled it off! If only we could be this successful at catching Pikachu!" Jessie sighed dreamily. "I won myself a good ol' exemption and won't be executed tonight. Seeing James again really boosted my spirits. My bitch drive is on maximum and I'm ready to kick all their asses."

"The reason we picked Matt for this challenge was because he didn't cooperate with us very well. He gave very vague answers in the interviews and misled us with false information," Misty confessed. "If he had been clearer and more precise with his information, we wouldn't have lost the challenge. Matt is the one to be blamed for our loss."

Misty aimed her intense glance at the cameras, with a frightfully extreme look in her fiery eyes.

"Matt Ishida sabotaged the challenge."

* * *

The players were taken to individual rooms in the two headquarters to take their fifth execution quiz, ten questions about the identity of the Mole.

Gary Oak was scanning his eyes on the second question: _Which team was the Mole on?_

"This morning, we had a challenge where we could add ten thousand dollars into the pot if we agreed to let the family members leave. Well, these players all prove to be completely nuts by casting the wrong decision! I can't believe they played right into the Mole's hand like this! Am I the only sane one around here!?"

Misty Waterflower clicked the answer **Three** on the fourth question of the quiz.

"During the questioning, Jeri did very little talking. I had to conduct most, if not all, of the interviews by myself. I just keep thinking that Jeri didn't try very hard during the interrogations. It was as if her mind wasn't even in the challenge. So yes, I do think Jeri's lack of contribution is part of our loss. Added to yesterday's silent auction fiasco, I think Jeri's name is under a lot of heat."

Matt Ishida slid his hand into his blonde hair as he read the sixth question on the screen.

"If you look back in this game, Misty had done a lot of things that are very suspicious. She is a great swimmer, but yet she was eliminated first in the Tentacruel challenge! She has a good head on her shoulders, but for the life of her she can't figure out her biggest nemeses are the kidnappers. I know I am in a coalition with her, but I just realized…have I made a coalition with the Mole?"

After carefully reading the eighth question on the screen, Jeri Katou clicked **True** and then winced.

"Jessie broke the rules today here, no surprise. She was told not to show the letter to anyone and what does she do? She shows it to her good buddy James. Go figure. And she was the reason why we lost $75,000. If she just confessed that she kidnapped Takato, we could have easily gotten that money into the pot. I hate to say it, but I'm not surprised. Jessie is responsible for a lot of money lost in the challenge."

Kenta Kitagawa was hesitating on the final question of the quiz: _Who is the Mole?_

"I think all of us played a role in our big loss today. If it was so obvious that Jessie and James were the kidnappers, then why didn't one single person point it out? Matt could have pointed it out. Misty could have pointed it out. Gary could have pointed it out. But instead, we just wag our fingers at each other…and the Mole is disappearing in the midst of this chaos…"

* * *

Along with their family members, the six players were seated comfortably in the cozy living room. Yamaki made his lingering appearance in the room, slowly marching to the desk with his deadly laptop.

"Welcome to the fifth execution players. For one of you, the journey ends here. I will randomly begin typing your names into the computer. When your name comes up, if the screen flashes green, you are safe. If the screen flashes red, you are the Mole's second victim."

Yamaki opened his laptop, and began typing in a four lettered name.

"Juri."

The meek little Jeri closed her eyes as the screen stalled in retort. Takato was sitting beside her, now free from his captive, and was holding Jeri's hand very, very tightly.__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

Jeri still had her eyes closed. Takato had to whisper in her ear to announce the happy results. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled weakly at the monitor.

"Kenta."

The young modest boy nervously rocked in his seat as he watched his name being typed in. His best friend Kazu looked mildly bored at the screen.__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed red.

Instantly he turned his head away. He could not bare the sight of the fatal red screen any longer. But Kenta could not hide the truth. His time in the game was due.

"Kenta, you are the Mole's fifth victim. You've been executed from the game, please follow me."

Kazu helped his meek friend get up from the couch. Reluctantly, the timid boy gave farewell handshakes with the other five players.After a brief embrace from a soggy looking Jeri, Kenta slowly dragged himself to the front door with Yamaki and Kazu.

As he made his walk of shame, Kenta felt a dim combination of dejection and disappointment. He didn't want to leave the game on a low sour note. After losing $100,000 in his last two challenges, Kenta had been waiting for a chance at redemption…the opportunity to prove to the players that he could achieve something grand. He wanted to make an ultimate underdog comeback, just a chance to demonstrate his worth to everybody.

Instead, he suffered the dwindling fate of mediocrity. He was leaving the game being the same bumbling mediocre nobody he entered the game as. Perhaps it was destined, but Kenta Kitagawa could never achieve greatness.

Then something happened.

It wasn't certain who started the chain reaction. May be it was Jeri, or a compassionate Misty, or even the well-mannered Professor Oak. But one person suddenly started to clap out of nowhere. It wasn't the sound of cruel mockery or mean spirited ridicule. It was the sound of honour, respect and admiration. More people joined in, and the clapping increased as Kenta slowly marched his way out of the door.

The quiet boy couldn't believe his ears. They were clapping…for him? Kenta was _shocked._ They were cheering him on?

That night, the round of honourable applause spoke more volume than a few farewell words ever will.

* * *

The mini-bus was parked at the driveway, ready to deliver Kenta out of the game. The young modest boy zipped up his winter jacket and shivered. It was beginning to snow again.

"Before you go, Kenta, any regrets about the game?" Yamaki asked, brushing a few snowflakes off his shades.

"I wished I did better in challenges," Kenta grinned. "I only won one out of the five that I've been in."

"But the one that you won…you ought to feel tremendously proud of that Pokemon battle, right?"

"You can't take my only win away from me!" He sheepishly laughed. "Yeah, winning that Pokemon battle was truly my highest point in the game."

"Looking back, you made a lot of selfless choices for the game. You refused to participate in any exemption challenges that took money out of the pot. You even volunteered to be neutralized for the sake of the group. I can understand why a lot of the players respected you."

"I guess I had a chip on my shoulder coming into the game. I didn't want to be underestimated, so you know, I tried my best."

"Oh dude!" Kazu suddenly gasped before walking on the bus, "That was the reason why they were clapping for you! They thought you played a great game!"

"No shit, Sherlock." Yamaki rolled his eyes behind his dark shades. Kenta snickered softly as he hopped onto the vehicle.

Slowly driving away, the bus with two passengers faded from the lonely streets of Toronto.****

END OF EXECUTION #5__

Next Episode: **Along Came Zoe**

The group reached a unanimous consensus: they are all flabbergasted at the new attractive blonde who likes stirring the pot a little too much. Just who exactly is Zoe Orimoto and what are her intentions? 

Author's Notes

I have to admit, Kenta's exit was probably a little melodramatic, but I felt I needed to distinguish his departure from the other players. Kenta always got overlooked in the Tamers series and this was sort of my tribute to him.

This was the longest chapter yet, so I won't drone on. Thanks for reading this, and please review! We are halfway through the story…I'll try to get the chapters moving more quickily!

And here are the official poll results of _Who is the Mole _from Episode 4, thanks for participating! Misty rose from the least suspicious in Episode 3 to the most suspicious in Episode 4. Will she maintain?

24 percent – Misty  
22 percent – Jeri  
20 percent – Gary  
12 percent – Jessie, Matt  
10 percent – Kenta

Go vote in the Mole Poll for Episode 5 now! 


	6. Episode 6: Along Came Zoe

**The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition**  
By: Gomamon 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.****

Episode 6 – Along Came Zoe

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon 02) _EXECUTED THIRD

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon 01) _**STILL STANDING**

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ **STILL STANDING**

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon 03) _**STILL STANDING**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon)_ EXECUTED FIRST

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon 03)_ EXECUTED FIFTH

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ **STILL STANDING**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ EXECUTED FOURTH

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora_ (Digimon 01) _EXECUTED SECOND

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon) _**STILL STANDING**

* * *

The Toronto weather was not kind to the five remaining players. Any trace of sunlight was buried under a thick layer of dusky grey clouds suspended in the sky. Since early this morning, a barrage of hail plummeted like an uncontrollable ammunition discharge. Four hours later, the disastrous weather still had not stopped.__

CLING!

That was the sound of tiny glaciers crashing into the windowpanes.__

CLING!

Misty Waterflower released a frustrated sigh. She kneeled down under her bed and retrieved a furry orange mitten. Her sister Daisy had carelessly left it behind in the room this morning. The ditzy blonde was gone now, along with all of the other family and friends, who all took an early bus ride back home.

"I hope it's safe to drive in this weather," Misty muttered as she stared doubtfully out the window.

The Cerulean gym leader would never admit it in front of the cameras, but she missed her older sister dearly. As much as the two girls teased each other like regular siblings every chance they got, there was also a tight sisterly bond between the pair. But nevertheless, Misty was glad that her sister was out of the picture.

"Don't get me wrong, seeing Daisy gave me a huge boost of energy and relief to my homesickness." Misty explained sincerely to the cameras, "But now that she's gone, I can go back and stay one hundred percent focused to winning this game."

Not once in this game had Misty lost the vision to winning this game. Despite all the other distractions that tempted the weak-willed players, winning was always the first thing on her mind. Nothing will be able to challenge her ambitious determination, no way.

Misty sat down on the couch, directly beside the window of her own room. It was time to record her thoughts in a confessional.

"I can't believe it. I'm in the Final Five!" She giggled softly, with apparent cheerfulness in the tone of her voice. "The five of us are past the halfway mark of this game. Wow, I'm astonished."__

CLING!

"Gary's stay in this game is way overdue, in my opinion." Misty couldn't resist snarling a little as she thought of the pretentious professor from Pallet Town. "I tried to be nice to him because everybody deserves a second judgment. But ugh...he is just so darn conceited!"

Misty rolled her eyes. She could almost picture the pompous smirk he constantly wore on his pointed face.

"Gary thinks he is so much smarter and better than the rest of us. Can you imagine how inflated his humongous ego would be if he actually won? He will be rubbing his victory in our faces all the time. I don't even want to think about it."__

CLING!

"I just _adore_ Jeri however. She is so, so sweet." Misty beamed to the cameras. "I mean, c'mon! She is the nicest and most friendly girl in the world! How can anyone not like Jeri?"

The gym leader had taken a fond liking to the innocent Tamer with the big puppy eyes. Misty smiled as she glanced over to the pokedex on the desk. Jeri gave it to her this morning as a token of their friendship.

"I treat Jeri like the little sister I never have. Sometimes I feel like I have to protect her under my wing because of how aggressive the other players are. In a conniving group of people with Jessie and Gary, she really reminds me of a little sheep in a pack of wolves. The other players, they don't understand how hard it must be for someone so young to be away from her family and play this game! I'm so proud of Jeri!"__

CLING!

"But speaking of Jessie…"

Misty closed her eyes for a second, bitterly smiling to the cameras. With her strong opinions against the Team Rocket member, she could easily write an entire essay on them. She wanted nothing associated with the diva villain, but yet ironically they almost seem inseparable from each other.

"She is everything I would imagine playing this ruthless game, only a hundred times worse." Misty winced slightly. "Jessie is such an extreme player. Everything with her has to be so over the top and dramatic. She seeks pleasure in confrontation, manipulation and stirring the pot to disrupt the harmony in this game. You can't compare her to anyone. There is no lesser of two evils with her, like…"

Misty flashed the cameras a toothy grin.

"Jessie is both…"__

CLING!

The feisty redhead turned to the window to observe the weather. Fortunately, the hail was growing weaker and far more lenient.

"Matt and I have a coalition together. We formed it on the first night of the game." Misty said, with her glance transfixed to the window. The cameramen could tell that it was a sensitive subject. Misty Waterflower was an upfront person, and when she did not speak directly into the cameras, they all knew she was hiding something.

"I like Matt. He is very friendly and always makes me feel at ease." Misty smiled weakly. "It's just that…I don't trust him, not one bit."

The handsome blonde would be shocked to hear this, but the Cerulean water expert was onto his ingenious plan. While she was not entirely immune to his flirtatious charm, the sharp girl was slowing unrevealing the layers of his disguised manipulation.

Because Misty realized that with the recent removal of Kenta, Matt Ishida now had a coalition with every single player in the game.

And that made him suddenly _very _powerful…

* * *

The alert eyes of Gary Oak gazed up to the sky, pondering in fascination. Although the hail had cleared up, the ominous sky was still in a dull shade of grey. The young professor stood in the center of a huge oval-shaped ice rink. To his left, there was a net goal set at the end of the rink. The net was medium in size and almost resembled almost like a goal used in soccer. But the players weren't about to play soccer. They were going to partake in…

"Hockey, baby!" Matt exclaimed, as he finished tying the knot on his skates. Grabbing the remaining hockey stick on the ground, he carefully trekked to join Gary and the three girls on the ice.

"Are you feeling cold, pretty boy?" Jessie asked, grinning very mischievously as she saw the strapping blonde zip up his jacket. "Because I could always wrap my arms around your sexy neck for warmth."

While Jeri and Misty exchanged awkward glances with each other, Gary Oak only rolled his eyes. He was not impressed with the blatant flirting going on. After all, he never respected Yolei for hovering around him like a love drunken bee. He was, however, growing weary of the intimacy between Matt and Jessie. They were growing too close for Gary's liking. What if they developed something beyond harmless flirting? 

What if they had a coalition?

Shaking his head in ridicule, the young professor from Pallet Town turned away. Now was not the time to overanalyze that problem right now. He had to stay focused in the challenge and not let other thoughts distract his mind. 

And that's when he first saw her.

She came dressed in a hot pink jacket, cuddled with a cute magenta helmet and a pair of fluffy white scarf around her neck. Her radiant blonde hair blew like gentle waves in the soft breeze. Hidden behind a pair of dark shades, it only made the huge white smile grew brighter. Her slim figure and her poise went well together, showcasing its most beautiful traits about her.

"Players, I like you to meet Izumi Orimoto," Yamaki gestured as the Italian girl skated gracefully – almost flawlessly - across the ice.

"You can call me Zoe for short," Zoe winked flirtatiously, followed by a girlish giggle.

"Hello there, Miss Orimoto" Matt clicked his teeth together, never one to stop flattering a girl – let alone a beautiful one like her. "My heart is suddenly beating ten times faster when I see someone as beautiful as you."

"Miss Orimoto will be participating in this little hockey session with us," Yamaki said. "She is an excellent hockey player and will be spending the next two hours preparing you with the basic skills of hockey."

To demonstrate, Zoe picked up her hockey stick on the ice as she quickly positioned the stick to the puck. In one gentle and divine swing, the puck swooshed directly into the net.

"Wow…that's really amazing!" Misty gasped, blinking her eyes quickly to make sure they weren't playing tricks on her. Matt whistled in astonishment as well, and the picky blonde was usually very hard to impress.

"Come on, y'all! We are going have some fun playing hockey," Zoe flashed her brightest grin yet. Reaching out her long skinny arm, she grabbed Gary's hand, pulling him across the ice. "Starting with you, cutie!"

Her melodious voice sounded so sweet, so cute, and oh so innocent. There was a stint of purity to her soft and melodious tone. As Gary slowly followed the blonde beauty on the ice, he cracked a humble smile that rarely appeared on his stone face. He was a man of high expectations, but her seemingly perfection met with all of his satisfaction. It was almost as if the presence of Zoe finally added a little warmth to his icy persona.__

Zoe Orimoto was truly a goddess.

But soon enough, Gary will learn that he couldn't be more wrong…

* * *

Although Zoe was a seemingly petite girl, she definitely came with a lot of brute force. Gliding through the ice with raging speed, she smacked the puck with her hockey stick, once again scoring another goal in the net. Along the sidelines, Matt and Gary both clapped and hollered.

"It's called a slap shot! Did y'all like it?" She asked in her girl-next-door voice. The guys responded and showered her with flattering answers. "Aww thanks, guys! You are so sweet!"

Elsewhere in a distance, Jessie scowled at the attention the blonde was receiving. She was not someone to be showcased or be outperformed by another person, let alone a puny skinny twerp like her!

"Did y'all like it? Did y'all _really_ like it?" She mocked as she threw her hands up in the air. "As soon as that scrawny tramp appeared, the guys had been hovering around her like flies. Everything that plastic Barbie doll is so fake and phony, how can anybody not see through it? So what if she is good at hockey, who gives a damn?"

She smirked evilly to the cameras, flashing her villain side at its best.

"Y'all know what I'd like to do? I like to kick that skinny bitch's ass all the way back to Italy or wherever she came from"

Misty and Jeri were practicing together at a distant section of the rink. While Zoe had been nothing but genuinely friendly, both of the girls couldn't help but notice that their blonde instructor spent a lot of time flirting with the guys. Other than teaching them about the basics, Zoe had been neglecting most of the females throughout the two hour session.

"I'll admit...it is kind of annoying that Zoe is setting these obvious divisions." Misty shrugged. "I get it, she likes to hang out with the guys better. I get it, but I just don't like it.

"Zoe is a little snobby," echoed Jeri. "I don't like her that much either."

"It's just that she flaunts her sex appeal too much. She kind of reminds me of…"

"Jessie!" Both of these girls chimed the diva's name together and then giggled softly. The resemblance was too uncanny.

The two girls returned to their little practice together. Misty gently hit the puck with her stick to Jeri. Jeri lifted her stick up high and delivered an awkward stroke, but she completely missed the puck.

"I guess I'm not just an athlete," said Jeri, chasing after the puck.

"Aww! It's alright, Jeri! No one is good at everything," Misty wrapped one arm around Jeri and gave her a squeeze in the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do better in the challenge."

"Thanks Misty…" Jeri smiled faintly to the friendly redhead. 

Since the auction blowout, the shy little girl withdrew into her shell and refused to talk to anyone. But slowly and progressively, she was recovering from her self esteem. May be soon enough, she will learn to trust some of the players again…

"But never trust a player completely." Jeri sheepishly grinned to the cameras in a private confessional. "I know how to play the game too!"

Her big innocent eyes shifted over to Jessie, who was casually filing her nails. She was sitting outside of the rink, having already given up on hockey an hour ago. Suddenly, the Team Rocket diva looked up from her nails and shot a straight glare at Jeri. It was so intense that Jeri could feel like her fiery eyes were penetrating through her skull. As their eyes met and locked with each other for a few seconds, Jeri couldn't help but turn her head away.

Jessie had won _this_ showdown. 

Yamaki reappeared at the ice rink an hour later, as the players skated across the ice to meet him. Zoe and Gary were first to arrive, being the natural athletes that they were. Jeri Katou, not the swiftest player on ice, was the last to join the group.

"Players, welcome to your next challenges which will obviously involve hockey, so I hope you polished your skills," said Yamaki. "There will be two different types of hockey games going on. I'll need two players who are interested in playing the pinball mode."

"Pinball mode? What the hell?" Jessie exclaimed.

"That sounds fun!" Misty grinned, raising her hand. She was always someone anticipating an adventure. Beside her, Matt also raised up his hand.

"Great, you two will be playing in a later game. But as for the other three players, your game starts now. It's quite simple, really. Each of you will be facing against Izumi individually."

Jeri muttered something under her breath while wearing an uncomfortable look on her face. She could even barely hold a hockey stick properly. How would she ever defeat someone as good as Zoe? Sometimes the odds just weren't in her favour…

"You can either shoot or goal. Miss Orimoto will take the other position. If you shoot, you must try to score in a goal against Zoe. If you're a goalie, you must block a goal scored by Zoe. Easy enough?"

"What's the catch?" Matt asked. He had been in enough of these challenges to know that there was a catch. There was always a catch.

"If you are successful, you will add a certain amount of money. However, you will each be playing a different amount of money. One of you will be playing for 10,000. Another will be playing for 20,000. The last player will be playing for 30,000."

"I'll play for the 30,000 shot, seeing as I'm the best hockey player around here." Gary piped up.

"Who died and made you boss?" Jessie scoffed.

"I'll take the 10,000 shot..." Jeri said timidly.

"In that case Juri, you will be facing against Izumi first. Do you want to shoot or goal?"

"Goal. It should be easier."

"Take your hockey stick and get to the goal…remember, you will be trying to block her shot. So don't let her score!"

Jeri skated slowly and cautiously to the net goal. She didn't feel confident with this match up at all. She watched Zoe danced her way through the ice, gathering rowdy whistles from both Gary and Matt. And Jeri knew it was useless. _There is no way I could beat her!_

"Get to your position," Yamaki declared, "Get ready…set…go!"

Jeri tried to expand her tiny arms and legs to cover as much space of the goal as possible. Zoe did not hesitate to smack the puck with a powerful swing. Jeri lifted her hockey stick to stop the puck, but it flew right past her shoulder and landed into the goal. It wasn't even close.

"Izumi wins!"

"That was awesome, Zoe!" Matt shouted as Gary nodded his head in approval. Jessie immediately glared at the two men. _What the hell? We are on the same boat, why are you cheering on the enemy?_

"Aww thanks, y'all!" Zoe grinned, flashing a peace sign to the group watching from the sidelines.

Jessie wanted to rip that phony grin off her face. She hated that shrew.

"Our next match…Musashi versus Izumi! This is for 20,000 into the pot!" Yamaki said, watching Jessie angrily stomp on the ice. He had enough experience with women to tell that Jessie was furious right now. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

"I'll be the goalie." Jessie said in an angry voice. She quickly skated over to the net with her hockey stick, holding it like a warrior's sword. She was ready to take Zoe Orimoto _ down._

"Good luck!" Zoe giggled to Jessie. That only made her even angrier.

"Ready…set…go!"

Jessie narrowed her eyes in focus at the puck. At the corner of her eyes, she saw the swift motion of Zoe raising her hockey stick and slamming it on the black puck. The puck swiftly glided through the ice in a straight line. Jessie immediately shifted her feet, grabbed her hockey stick and blocked it. The puck hit the rim of the hockey stick and bounced off elsewhere.

"Musashi won the match! 20,000 into the pot!"

As the others clapped in applause, Jessie only smirked at the awestruck blonde standing in front of her. The tall beautiful Team Rocket member smirked. Nobody messes with Jessie.

"And the final match is between Shigeru and Izumi. This is for 30,000 into the pot!"

"I'll shoot," said the professor. Gary skid across the ice as he took a deep breath. Inside his head, he needed to constantly remind himself that to concentrate. He must concentrate in order to win this challenge.

But as soon as he took one glance at the beautiful Zoe Orimoto by the goal, his hearts faltered and his focus scattered, how could anyone stay focused? Gary put one of his shaky hands on the hockey stick, nervously glancing at the puck in front of him. It seemed like such an easy task to just put the puck into the net.

"Get ready…set…go!"

Gary took a hard shot…

…and he missed completely. The puck didn't even come close to the net, in fact, it went completely off course.

"Izumi won this match! Shigeru did not put 30,000 into the pot! You've added 20,000 into the pot, raising your tally to 208,000."****

POT: 208,000/470,000

"How could you have missed that?" Jessie yelled out in rage, "You spent two freaking hours in a private teaching session with her!"

Gary didn't reply back. Always someone who doesn't lose his cool, Gary opted to ignore the feisty temper. He turned around to take one last glance at Zoe. The radiant, gorgeous Zoe Orimoto…

He knew this was worth it.

* * *

The skating rink was cleared for the next stage of the challenge. Misty and Matt watched in fascination as dozens and dozens of hockey nets were lined up next to each other at the end of the rink. In the centre, there is a very tiny net that was coloured gold from top to bottom.

"Welcome to the pinball challenge! Unlike the last challenge, you will not be facing Miss Orimoto." Yamaki said, "Instead, you will each get one try to shoot your puck into one of those goals. On each goal, there is a certain value of money you can add to the pot, ranging from 0 to 30,000."

"The gold one must only have 30,000 in it." Matt stated.

"Correct. You understand how this pinball concept works, right? Both Yamato and Kasumi will get one puck to score into one of the many goals. Whichever goal your puck lands in will be the amount of money you add to the pot."

"Got it," said Misty.

"So let's begin…who wants to go first? Remember, you only get one puck…"

"I'll go first," Matt volunteered. He picked up his hockey stick and skated to the designated spot he was supposed to stand in. In front of him, there was the black puck he was supposed to shoot in one of the goals.

"You're the man, Matt!" Zoe exclaimed. Jessie rolled her eyes in irritation. How she wished she could shut the tramp up.

Matt winked back at Zoe before raising his hand for a full swing. Like a professional golfer, Matt had the perfect poise as he swung the stick. The puck slid quickly in a straight line, heading directly to the golden net until it suddenly changed direction and narrowly landed in the 10,000 net.

"Damn it!" Matt sighed, running a head through his blonde hair. "So close, yet so far away…"

"Yamato adds 10,000 into the pot," said Yamaki. "Kasumi, you're up next."

The petite Cerulean gym leader skated to her position. With a hockey stick in her hand, she gave it a powerful whip. The puck went in a zigzag fashion very rapidly, bouncing all over the place, until it sharply nested into the 25,000 goal.

"Kasumi adds 25,000 into the pot. This brings up the pot tally to 243,000! Congratulations!"

"Yessss!" Misty raised her hand in triumph. Behind her, the rest of the players gave a round of joyous clapping.

"Great job, Misty!" Jeri beamed, "You are the best!"

"No kidding! You rock!" Matt added, putting his hand around the girl's shoulder. Even Gary and Zoe were clapping for her. Only Jessie stood there with her arms folded, wearing a slight frown on her face.__

Jessie can never be happy at a twerp's victory. Misty smiled to herself. _I couldn't ask for that much._****

POT: 243,000/530,000

* * *

Matt Ishida felt like he was unstoppable. The magnetic blonde was now in a coalition with everybody left in the game. Misty, Jeri, Gary and Jessie…they were all dangling by his fingers, trusting every word that he says. This new position made Matt feel very comfortable, but at the same time, he was also very worried.

"Because if I'm not the Mole and I'm allied with everyone else in this game…" Matt paused, attempting to tease the cameraman a little bit. "That means one of my coalition partners is the Mole. I have been working with a Mole and I didn't even know it."

"To think all this time I was in a coalition with the Mole! Oh, the irony of it all!" Matt chuckled heartily, running his hand through his hair.

But deep inside, the charismatic teenager was confused, lost and even a little betrayed. He was tangled in a messy web of coalitions with four people he put absolute trust in. He spent so much time building a steady trust foundations and friendship with each ally – now it abhorred him that one of his trustworthy allies had been lying to him. One of them was the Mole.

And he didn't know who it was.

Realizing that the cameras had captured a few moments of his vulnerability, Matt tried to disguise it by seductively winking to the cameras. "Don't worry though. I have all my bases covered. I have access to everybody's thoughts. I won't even have to break a sweat!"

But needless to say, Matt did have his suspicions. He was always weary of one particular ally. She was the defect, the chip in his shielded armour, the virus in his fluent system. He was always suspicious of this young innocent girl who befriended him on the second day. Ever since that challenge when she showed a tiny hint of rebellion, Matt knew there was something wrong with her.

"Oh look, there she is. The little sneak…" Matt whispered to the cameraman. He stretched his long tanned arm and waved to the girl who exited her bedroom.

Misty waved back.

* * *

Jessie did not trust Matt Ishida from Day One. She didn't even trust him when they made the secret "kiss" coalition with each other. And now, Jessie was growing leery of the manipulative blonde. She had watched him go from Misty's room to Jeri's room to Gary's room all over the house the entire day.

"If he is having multiple coalitions, then he isn't doing a very good job at hiding it up," remarked Jessie in a confessional. "I mean, how much can I trust that guy?"

Jessie watched Matt Ishida strut his muscular body confidently into the dining room. The blonde placed a seat beside Zoe Orimoto and the pair immediately jumped into an enticing conversation, ignoring Jessie's presence in the room completely.

As all the other players gathered in the room for a quick lunch, it had a very light atmosphere. Matt was the center of all the conversations of course, chatting mostly to Zoe Orimoto. But nevertheless the mood was festive and even Jeri was starting to feel a little talkative in the conversation.

Matt's eye met the clock in the room. He doesn't know if he will have any more free time to talk with his final coalition partner Jessie today, so he will need to have a little strategic discussion with her now.

"Jessie," Matt cleared his throat as he got up from his seat. "I have something to show you in my room."

"What? Can I come?" Zoe giggled.

"May be next time, sweetheart." Matt grinned, patting the giddy blonde on the shoulder.

"Why am I not included? You've already talked with everybody in the room today! I saw you go into everybody's room!" Zoe grinned.

"What are you talking about, silly? It's nothing." Matt said sharply. He didn't like how this conversation was turning out to be.

"Wait a second here…" Gary narrowed his eyes at Matt suspiciously. "Are you doing what I think you are doing?"

"He brings his journal with him every time he goes into your room! I saw him!" Zoe laughed, oblivious to Matt's horror for her words.

"Hell no!" Jessie angrily rose up from her seat. "I knew it! You _have_ been in a coalition with the other three members all along!"

"What? But-" Misty responded with shock.

"No!" Matt's face went white as he tried to defend himself. "You don't understand what is-"

"Damn it." Gary scrunched up his face. "I can't believe you have a coalition with everyone here! I thought you said I was your only coalition member!"

"Me too!" Jeri added.

"Guys and girls," Matt cracked into a nervous smile. "This is just a big misunderstanding…"

"We've caught you, Ishida. We've caught you by the tail. You have been manipulating us all along. I should've known better than to trust you." Jessie wagged her finger at the blonde's face.

"I can't believe you shared all my info with Jessie…" Jeri muttered, with a dejected look on her face. "I trusted you, Matt."

"He promised me that he won't tell anybody about what I wrote in my journal." Gary shook his head slowly and sighed. "Damn it."

"Traitor! Forget it, this coalition is over!" Jessie yelled. "I trusted you, Ishida, when you said that you wanted to work with me, and only me. But I didn't know you shared this info with _everyone._ You…you betrayed my trust. You do not mess with my trust!"

As the Team Rocket member stomped away from the dining room, the others followed in a less angry manner, leaving only Matt in the room by himself. Matt buried his face in his hands, unable to comprehend what just happened. The damage had been dealt amongst everyone. No sweet talking or charm could ever buy back his coalitions.

If Matt Ishida had any chance at a victory now, he will have to win it solely by himself.

* * *

Some players were livid, some players were disappointed…but they have all now broken ties with Matt Ishida. It was now officially an individual game.

"I'm really disappointed in Matt." Jeri said in a confessional, in a soft almost inaudible murmur. "When he asked me for a coalition, I trusted that he wouldn't share my info with anyone else. I worked so hard to collect this info and I can't believe everyone is getting a hold of it too. I guess you just can't trust anyone in this game."

"Matt really let me down today, when all his secrets come flying out. I must be a fool to trust him in the first place" Misty echoed.

But nevertheless the game must continue on, the five players quietly met with Yamaki and Zoe for the next challenge. They were in the middle of a forest. Dead trees and stumps surrounded the place like a daunting graveyard. There were also snow and ice everywhere, making it very difficult to walk in.

"Hello players," said Yamaki. The host sensed the unusual quietness amongst the chatty group. "It is time for our next challenge."

He pulled out a few digivices from his pocket. They were in various forms of colours.

"I hope you do remember these little gadgets…they are called digivices. There are twenty digivices scattered somewhere in this forest. Your task is to find ten of them and then bring it back here. For every digivice you bring back, you add 10,000 to the pot."

Yamaki paused to wait for a reaction. But none of the players seemed too excited or animated about this challenge.

"Miss Orimoto will be participating in this challenge as the hunter. She will enter the game at some time and can remove you out of the challenge with snowballs."

"Snowballs?" Misty raised her eyebrow.

"If she successfully hits you with a snowball at any part of the body, you are eliminated from the challenge on the spot. So be careful of that. There is no time limit in this challenge, but it will end if ten digivices are retrieved or all the players are removed. Understand?"

"Can we hit the girl back to eliminate her?" Jessie asked.

"No, you may not eliminate Izumi out of the challenge," replied Yamaki. He saw the evident disappointment shown on Jessie's face. "Please remember, you only add money into the pot if you bring the digivice back, right here."

"If there are no more questions, then let's begin. Bring back ten digivices to add 100,000 into the pot! On your marks, get set and go!"

Gary Oak was the first to dash off, running madly into the forest. It was difficult tramping through the snow wearing a heavy winter jacket, but he was moving at an agile speed. Matt and Misty quickly followed behind, running off in different directions. Soon, all five players were separated and scrambling everywhere in the deep dark forest.

Yamaki checked his watch and glanced over at Zoe, who was humming a casual and light tune. Slowly, he nodded his head.

"Miss Orimoto, it's time."

Zoe gently bent over and scooped up a handful of snow in her mittens. Tenderly and carefully, she rolled the snow up into a hard solid snowball. And then Zoe Orimoto disappeared into the forest, hunting for her prey…

* * *

Gary swiftly turned his head frantically to both sides, scanning around everywhere for a hidden digivice. Looking up and down, left and right…he finally saw a red one hanging by a tree branch with a rope. He ripped the digivice off the branch and put it in his pocket before continuing on.

Nearby, Misty trekked speedily through the snow, also searching for a digivice high and low. Using her keen eagle-like eye, she detected one poking out of the snow by a tree. She grabbed it in her hand and maintained her expedition…

Elsewhere, Jessie was having difficulty finding a digivice anywhere. May be because she was impatient, or may be she wasn't careful enough. But the Team Rocket member was already frustrated at this point of the challenge.

"Where could they have hid some stupid digivice?" Jessie asked herself, in a bitter and annoyed tone.

She leant back on a tree in exhaustion. Three minutes into the challenge and Jessie already lost all will to continue on. 

May be I should just eliminate myself, she thought.

Just then, she heard some heavy footsteps approaching. It was the sound of a pair of boots squashing its way through the snow. And it was getting very near to Jessie.

Jessie held her breath, stealthily using the tree as a cover. If the hunter was really behind her, Jessie would not be detected standing behind this tree. But one movement or one sound would give away her position, so the vocal diva finally had to shut her mouth. She must be quiet…

The footsteps died down, or at least they seemed to be heading toward another direction. Carefully, Jessie turned her head and took a sneak peek…

She saw a glimpse of a figure with blonde hair move quickly behind a tree. Was it Matt or was it Zoe? Perhaps it could even be Yamaki!

Then she saw another figure running away into a faraway distance. This other figure was also a blonde too…and that's when Jessie realized the scenario. Zoe was hunting down Matt and the dashing blonde was running away from her.

But it was no use. Zoe pitched the snowball directly at Matt's back. He was hit.

"Matt is eliminated!" Zoe called out in the forest. There was an echo to her sweet loud voice. Matt hanged his head disappointedly, and walked off away. The blonde didn't even stand a chance in the challenge.

Jessie gasped and quickly returned to her hiding spot behind the tree. They didn't even collect one digivice yet and they were already one member down. Jessie suddenly felt a spark inside her. No, it wasn't a spark. It was more like a fire. Her _competitive _fire was burning up. 

Oh, it was on!

Jessie was not going down in this challenge without a fight for her life.

* * *

Jeri Katou was moving very cautiously in the forest, almost like a mouse sneaking through the layers of snow. She had a digivice in her hand. Now all she needed to do was to return to the starting position and she would add 10,000 into the pot.

When she heard Zoe's singsong voice in the forest, announcing the elimination of Matt Ishida, it shook Jeri up a little bit. Zoe was on the move and Jeri had to be even more careful and watchful of her every step. One wrong move could get her eliminated from the challenge.

But Jeri wasn't an athlete like Gary or Misty, she was just a fragile little girl. Her only way of survival was to hide and be sneaky throughout. It would be a slow progress, but Jeri had the patience to complete this strategy. Jeri had the patience to win it all.

Elsewhere in the forest, Gary Oak was on a rampage. Like a monkey, he climbed up a tree to retrieve the digivice at an unusual height. After stuffing it in his jacket pocket, he grinned to himself. Having already found a number of digivices in this forest, it boosted his confidence and ego by a lot. This was going to be _so_ easy.

Not as lucky was Misty, who despite a good start was now struggling to find a second digivice. On top of that, she was also getting a little lost in this dark dense forest. She had no sense of direction, so even finding her original starting position was going to be difficult.

"Good thing there aren't any bugs here," Misty laughed softly. "Or I will just freak out."

It was about fifteen minutes into the challenge, and fatigue clearly gotten into the little girl's body. She moved at a much slower speed than she originally started, and her guard was a lot lower. If Zoe was to attack her right now, Misty would be totally helpless. Although Misty had to wonder, can she outrun the swift Italian?

But one thing was for sure. Misty wasn't going to give up. Misty Waterflower was not a quitter.

Just then, her head perked up at a booming voice in the forest. It was Yamaki's monotonous voice.

"One digivice retrieved! 10,000 added to the pot!"

"Only nine more to go!" Misty whispered to the cameras as she continued walking through the forest without any direction at where she's going.

And just then, Misty spotted a digivice lying on a small boulder. It was just right there in the open. Grinning to herself, Misty dashed speedily over to retrieve her second digivice.

That's when she got hit by a snowball, struck at her left knee. In a shocked trance, Misty swiftly turned her head at the direction of the snowball. There Zoe was, standing there by the tree and smiling sweetly at the gym leader. It was a trap all along set by the hunter to catch the prey, and Misty fell right into it.

A little upset, Misty placed down her two digivices on the boulder, according to the rules. She caught another glimpse of Zoe's smile. But only to Misty, it wasn't so sweet and innocent as she thought before. It was very, _very_ vindictive.

"Misty Waterflower is eliminated!"

* * *

Jessie couldn't help but grin at Misty's demise from the challenge. Even walking alone in this challenge with only a cameraman tagging her, Jessie was smirking and gloating with utmost joy.

"If there is justice in this game, that announcement would be what we called…foreshadowing." Jessie rubbed her hands together. "I'd love it if that little twerp got executed next. It would make my whole game out here worth it, just to see her scrawny ass get executed before I win."

She silently laughed, not wanting to alert Zoe. But as much as she was celebrating over Misty's elimination, Jessie also realized that it was slowing down the progress of this challenge. The sassy Team Rocket member still had not found one single digivice in this forest.

"Where are all these stupid digivices?" Jessie mumbled, flipping her hair furiously across her shoulder. "It's so hidden I can't even find one!"

While Jessie was having trouble with her searching skills, Gary did not have such a problem. He spotted another digivice nearby. It was on top of a sheet of ice. He would have to skate across it to retrieve the gadget.

But Gary was a very cautious man. Even as he approached the ice, he was extremely cautious. For all he knew, Zoe could be hiding somewhere…waiting for him to have his guard down.__

Ah, beautiful Zoe Orimoto…

That's when Gary heard something moved. With his sharp ear, he was certain he heard a movement. But now Gary tensed up and paused on the spot. He knew he was being watched. And if it was who he thought she was…then Gary was in danger of elimination.

Slowly, he skated across the ice to retrieve the gadget. He was alarmed of course, knowing that someone was hiding from him. As he bent down to pick up the digivice, he heard a sharp sound coming his way.__

SWOOSH!

Gary ducked as the snowball flew past his shoulder, landing a few inches from where he was standing on the ice. _Perfect timing. _Gary smirked and glided away. He didn't even need to turn around to know that Zoe was after him.

He easily avoided a few more snowball throws, although they came very close, Gary was just too agile to be hit. And soon Gary reached the other side of the ice, quickly and successfully escaping from his predator. He knew he could outrun Zoe with his fast legs on land, and that's what exactly happened here.__

Ah, beautiful Zoe Orimoto…

* * *

Matt Ishida sat in a slouch on a big log quietly. After his early elimination, he had returned to the pit stop and needed to wait until the challenge was over. Beside him, Yamaki was busily working on his laptop and communicating with Zoe through his cell phone.

"She got you too, huh?" Misty smiled lightly as she dragged her feet out of the forest.

"That Zoe girl is a sneaky little thing," Matt grinned. Misty chuckled softly and took a seat in between Matt and Yamaki.

And suddenly there was a weary air of silence in between the two former coalition partners. Matt was looking down at the snowy grounds while Misty was looking hopefully up at the sky. But they both knew one thing…they couldn't trust each other.

Pulling his head up, Matt put on the best superficial chipper smile on his face. When all was said and done, nobody can deny the fact that Matt was a slick guy. If he wanted, he could easily charm and sweet talk his way back into Misty's good graces. Matt knew he could.__

Time to work the Ishida magic…

"Misty, I know I'm not your favourite person right now," He snuck in a sheepish smile, "But will you please listen to my side of the story first before ignoring me?"

"I'm sorry, Matt. But I don't really want to talk about it right now," Misty replied uncomfortably. She turned away from him in hopes of avoiding a conversation she would not like to have.

"Misty…" Matt lowered his voice to a soft, gentle whisper. "Ever since Sora left this game, I felt so, _so_ lonely…it's almost like I didn't have a single friend left in this game. I was so insecure and alone…that I needed to make a coalition with everyone."

Matt paused as he let his carefully chosen words sink into Misty's head. He knew that friendship was a sensitive topic that the Cerulean gym leader could relate to. He knew it would be in his benefit to manipulate this fact to buy back some trust from Misty.

"But I want you to know that you are the only person I'm true to, Misty. Jessie and Gary? Ugh, I want nothing to do with those people." Matt continued, "And you know I love Jeri to death, but let's face it, she doesn't have what it takes to win this game."

Misty closed her eyes, not replying as she attentively listened to Matt's plea. She was taking every word that he said and dissolving it carefully in her mind.

"The final three in this game should be you, me and the Mole." Matt grinned, running a hand through his fair blonde hair. "And the best way to achieve that goal is for us to work together again…"__

Damn, this is getting good! Yamaki stopped typing on his laptop as he drew more attention into the blonde's captivating speech.

"After all, you don't want me to turn into another Tracey icon out here again, do ya?"

Matt knew he struck a sensitive topic that will surely earn him sympathy points. Misty always felt awful at how her Pokemon Watcher friend received a horrible treatment during his last few days of this game. If anything, Misty was not the type of friend to treat people like that. She would have to forgive him. It was the _right_ thing to do.

Misty did not respond Matt in words, choosing to reply back by embracing Matt in a friendly and brotherly hug. And at that moment, Matt knew he had Misty under his control again. The two of them were in a coalition together until the bitter end. His Ishida magic worked like a charm.

But what Matt didn't know that Misty wasn't this naïve little girl he always imagined her to be. He was totally oblivious that Misty Waterflower did not believe a single word out of his mouth.

And suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching. It was the slow treading of Jeri Katou, huffing and puffing, as she dropped the second digivice into the host's hand.

"Two digivices retrieved! Another 10,000 added to the pot!" Yamaki declared as Jeri scurried off into the forest again with a train of thoughts running in her head. The little girl just saw the hug exchanged between Misty and Matt, and she did not like it at all.

* * *

Reaching his hand into a snowy bush, Gary Oak pulled out another digivice. Like all the others that he collected, he stuffed his newly found digivice into his jacket pocket before continuing on his journey.

"Three more digivices and I'll be able to add 100,000 into the pot." Gary smirked in front of the cameras, taking every chance he had to gloat. 

But luck was not on Jessie's side. Unlike the conceited professor, she was having a lot of difficulty even finding or locating one digivice. 

"Arrgh! It's almost like these digivices vanished or something!" Jessie complained.

"This is such a stupid challenge!" The tall diva sniffled as she continued to march in the snow. "I'm cold, I'm tired and I can't find a damn digivice! What does a sister have to do to locate one of them?"

And suddenly she heard another movement. Jessie felt someone moving sneakily behind her, jumping and hiding behind trees. Slowly turning her head around, Jessie saw nobody. But it didn't clear her doubts…it only made her more suspicious of her surroundings.__

It has to be that little bitch Zoe! Jessie thought to herself as she picked up her pace in the snow. _Imagine the humility of being eliminated without even collecting one digivice! No, it CAN'T happen!_

She also heard the footsteps increasing its speed behind her. Jessie growled angrily, now running through the snow. As she was dashing through the snow with speed, a snowball flew past and whammed into a nearby tree. Jessie was now certain that Zoe was behind her, and if she stopped at any moment, Zoe would catch up.

As she was running mindlessly in the forest, Jessie spotted a round unidentifiable object lying in the middle of the floor. Was it a digivice, or just a shiny rock?__

Should I take my chances and go for it? Even with that bitch right behind my tail? Jessie didn't have much time to think as she impulsively dashed forward to the object.

As she approached closer and closer, she identified it as a digivice. Jessie did it! She found her first digivice! The Team Rocket member was just about to bend down and pick up the digivice when another hand snatched up the digivice out of her reach.

"What the…?" Jessie looked up and saw Jeri Katou holding a digivice.

No, it wasn't just any digivice. It was _Jessie's_ digivice.

"Give it back, twerp! I saw it first!" Jessie angrily demanded.

"What are you talking about? We are on the same boat here!" Jeri nervously countered. She wasn't about to be bullied by Jessie again.

"The digivice…I saw it first! Now fork it over or else!"

"N…n-no!"

Suddenly Jeri felt something hit the back of her jacket. Turning her head around nervously, she hoped it was not what she thought it was…But the fact was inevitable, she was just hit by a solid and firm snowball, delivered by no other than Zoe Orimoto.

"Jeri Katou is eliminated from the challenge!"

While Jeri still needed time to respond to the shock, Jessie did not waste a second of this valuable time. She grabbed the digivice out of the girl's hand and made a mad dash to escape from Zoe's wrath. The blonde hunter jumped out of her stealthy hiding place, chasing after the tall villain in her trails. 

She quickly rolled up a patch of snow into a firm and solid snowball. Then using her best baseball pitch, she threw it at the Team Rocket member's direction…

* * *

"I only need one more digivice for a full set," Gary grinned confidently to the cameras. With Zoe busily distracted by Jessie's runaway, the whole forest was now open. The young professor had no difficulty roaming around the forest and finding all the needed digivices.

"This is kind of like a scavenger hunt. That's pretty cool…" he remarked.

Gary continued treading through the snow without a care. With laser-like eyes, he eyed his surroundings very carefully, without missing a single spot. From top to bottom, left to right, tree to boulders…

"Aha! There it is!"

Gary pointed his finger at a golden digivice hanging on top of a tall evergreen tree. The final digivice hung there like an ornament on a Christmas tree…just waiting to be taken off. With little effort, Gary managed to climb the tree and retrieved the golden digivice, completing his set. He was now making his way back, with a potential 100,000 in his jacket pocket.

Meanwhile Jessie was still being chased by Zoe. The Team Rocket member might have long beautiful legs, but she sure knew they weren't made for long distance running on snow! She was out of breath and almost pushed to her limit to stop. Worst of all, Zoe Orimoto showed no sign of fatigue.__

Damn it! How can she follow me? How does she know where I'm going?

Jessie stared down at her feet and that's when she realized the answer. She had been leaving her footprints on the snow, making it very easy for Zoe to just follow wherever she went.

"I'm lost and I don't know where I am," Jessie scratched her head. She could hear Zoe's footsteps gradually increasing speed and distance, but on top of all that, she could also here the soft murmurs…of human voices?__

Could it be?

Following her gut instinct, Jessie followed where she heard the noise. Sure enough, she found the original starting point. It was Matt and Misty's chatting that directed her to the place. Sighing in relief, the Team Rocket member gleefully handed a digivice over to the host.

"The third digivice is retrieved! Another 10,000 added to the pot!"

And just then, a snowball hit Jessie on the head. She still couldn't escape from Zoe's wrath.

"Musashi is also eliminated from the game…"

But Jessie never let Yamaki finish his sentence, for his monotonous voice was drawn out by a long frustrated howl from Jessie. It did not just contain frustration and exhaustion that was gradually building up in her system. Her growl was purely raging anger and bitter hatred. That was the last straw! Zoe Orimoto had cornered her with nowhere to go.

A cornered Jessie was not a pleasant Jessie.

The Team Rocket member swiftly bent down and rolled up two firm snowballs in her hand. In a perfect pitch, she chucked the snowballs at Zoe. Both of them hit her head with a strong force.

"Jessie!" Misty exclaimed from the sidelines with shock. "You can't hit Zoe! You aren't allowed to!"

But that didn't stop Jessie's furious rage as she continued to roll up more snowballs and threw them at Zoe like a madman. One by one, the snowballs bombarded the blonde at various parts of the body with the same deadly strength. 

"Jessie! What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?" Matt yelled, overwhelmed with what he was seeing right now.

Jessie just kept throwing and throwing until it turned into a barrage of snowballs. The poor girl had no time to dodge these snowballs, let alone hide and run away. Each of the throw almost felt like being struck by a shower of hail…and the pain increased and increased…

"Musashi! Stop what you're doing immediately!" Yamaki leaped up from his seat and pulled Jessie away. The Team Rocket dropped her snowball, smirking in satisfaction as she watched Zoe hobbling away into the forest in fear and tears.__

That'll teach the scrawny bitch. Nobody messes with Jessie.

* * *

Gary had no idea what was happening as he marched through the snow with caution. All he knew was that he needed to return to the starting point to win this challenge for the group. He was so close he could almost taste the victory…almost taste the glorious celebration that he wholeheartedly deserved.

He was finally going to be the hero, for once.

Since Gary made a mental map in his head throughout the journey, he knew exactly where he was going. All he needed to do now was to retrace his steps. It was that simple.

But the clever professor figured that Zoe Orimoto was lurking somewhere into the forest, watching him very carefully. And just when he least expected it – BAM! She will jump out and eliminated him.__

Ah, beautiful Zoe Orimoto…

Gary was approaching closer and closer to the starting point, but he still kept his guard up to the highest degree. Zoe was here somewhere in this forest. He didn't know where, but he can just feel her presence ominously hanging above him in the forest.

Every step Gary took, he was getting closer…

Closer…

And closer…

"I've caught you, sweetie." Gary sharply turned around. His gut instinct was dead on. Zoe Orimoto was standing only inches from him, holding a huge snowball in her delicate hand. Gary gently took the snowball out of her hand and tossed it on the ground.

But something was wrong. No longer did Zoe Orimoto reflect the image of a beautiful cheerful goddess. That's when everything came into pieces for Gary. There was a huge ugly bruise on her forehead. And Zoe was trying very hard to fight back tears. Suddenly the magnificence of Zoe vanished and what stood in front of Gary was a real traumatized girl.

"Zoe, what's wrong?" Gary asked in disbelief. He remembered her cheerful smile that would bring even the unhappiest person into laughter. Oh how he missed that smile from her face…

"It's Jessie…" Zoe sobbed softly. A single tear trickled down her face. "She just started hitting me with these snowballs and called me all these nasty names…"

"Zoe…" Gary swallowed, for once in his life, he was lost for words. "I don't believe this. I can't believe she did that to you."

Zoe wrapped her arms around herself, with her head dropped down. She was shivering and sniffling at the same time. Gary could feel the innocent vulnerability she was exposing to him right now.

"I just wanted everyone to like me! I just wanted someone to like me for who I am…what was so wrong with that? Why must people hate me?"

And as Zoe continued to divulge deeper in her self-pity, Gary couldn't help but feel touched. Just seeing Zoe in her weak and vulnerable condition shook him. Was that lying beneath her strong and proud exterior all along? Just a weak little girl who wanted to be accepted?

For a split second, there was silence between the two. Gary just stared into the blonde's hollow green eyes, almost as if he was sending her a message: _I've been there before. I know how it feels._

"Zoe, don't…be…this way." Gary's voice started to crack up a little. He wasn't used to being in emotional situations like this.

Walking slowly forward, Zoe nervously approached Gary. He could almost feel her soft breath on his neck. Unexpectedly, Zoe threw her arms around his neck and wrapped him in an awkward hug.__

SPLAT!

Gary felt something smacked him softly on his back. He widened his eyes as he pulled Zoe slowly away from him. _Could it be?_

And then he saw the malicious smirk on Zoe's face. It was not just any smirk – it was a _triumphant _smirk. No longer was the girl weeping sad poor-me tears like twenty seconds before. No longer was she the same vulnerable and lonely girl whom Gary had felt sympathy for. No longer was she the beautiful goddess he always thought she was.

"It's a scam…I should have known." Gary muttered. His voice almost devoid from any emotion.

"I was a pretty good actress, eh?" Zoe winked, brushing the ends of her long blonde hair with her hand. Her tears had already evaporated from her face. "But just to make it official. Gary, you are the last player to be eliminated from this challenge."

Gary was already regretting any sympathy he had for Zoe a few minutes ago. The _first_ time he ever showed any humanly emotions in this game and it was the reason why he lost this challenge. In his eyes, Zoe Orimoto was hardly a goddess anymore. 

Suddenly, she was terrible.

* * *

"You only managed to bring back three digivices, so you have added 30,000 into the pot." Yamaki declared, and then he sharply glared at Jessie. "However, Musashi had crossed the line and broke one of the rules when she attacked Zoe after her elimination. Because of that, you will suffer a penalty. Any money that Jessie earned in this challenge will not be added to the pot."

"Which brings us to 20,000 only?" Matt groaned while Jessie grunted in disapproval beside him.

"Your pot now stands at 263,000." Yamaki announced. "After dinner, we will carry with our sixth execution quiz where one of you will be the Mole's sixth victim. Good luck."****

POT: 263,000/630,000

"Hey y'all," Zoe sweetly smiled. "I think I have a good idea of who the Mole is, but let's keep it a secret between the two of us, okay? I have so much fun with everyone today and I love you all! Goodbye and may the best player win this game!"

Zoe quickly disappeared from their sight along with Yamaki and the five remaining players were left in a state of confusion. She came, she saw and she left after doing some unfixable damage to the group. The group would never be the same again after the impact of Zoe Orimoto.

As the five players make their exit out of the forest, each had a different thought in their mind. Leading the head of the pack was Jessie, who had her hands behind her head. She smiled devilishly to the cameras as she gave her last confessional of the night.

"Little Jeri Katou slips by again. She thinks that putting 20,000 into the pot will make her the least suspicious player, but it still isn't a lot in a pot out of a possible 100,000. Besides, did anyone remember how much she _sucked _at the first challenge today? She couldn't shoot a damn puck into a net to save her life. Hey, I'm just saying. Things like this should be put into consideration as well!"

Walking slowly behind Jessie was the perky Cerulean gym leader. Like her fellow team member, she was also lost in her ocean of thoughts.

"Gary really let us down in the challenge _again. _He claims that he collected ten digivices, but yet he contributed zero dollars into the pot. That's a huge letdown. Why couldn't he just come back when he had two digivices? Or four? At least that way, money would be guaranteed into the pot."

Misty paused, taking time to recollect her thoughts in an acute summary.

"Of course, the others didn't really do any better here, so I guess we are all to be blamed. I'm also surprised that Matt bailed out so early in the challenge. His early elimination must be an indication to something."

Gary was next in the confessional line up. The professor wasn't as normally egoistic as he was before, probably due to the fact that he was still shaken up by Zoe's 'revelation'.

"Matt and Misty top my suspicion list after today's events. Their performance was horrible in the last several challenges. It's pretty hard to believe that Matt didn't even find one digivice before he was eliminated. Hell, I found ten! How hard could it be?"

Gary gave a cold chuckle and closed his eyes.

"As for Misty, I always thought she was very swift. I saw her run before and with her speed, she could've easily outrun Zoe. I'm just really disappointed with how quickly she was eliminated from the challenge. We have two very strong contenders wiped off immediately at the beginning, and that's what cost us the challenge. It's so obvious. Matt and Misty are sabotaging..."

Next was Jeri Katou. The little girl slowly walked behind the other three while giving her confessional.

"We could have added 10,000 into the pot if not for Jessie's penalty. I didn't see what happened, but I heard that what Jessie did was very brutal and harsh. So in summary, it was pretty much typical Jessie."

Jeri let out a bitter chuckle as she continued on. She was always teasing the cameramen with the lack of clarity in her confessional.

"But this was not Jessie's first penalty in this game. Looking back, she constantly broke rules of the challenge and cost us a lot of potential money. I…I just think that it's intentional. This is Jessie's method of taking money out of the pot."

Last was Matt Ishida, the fallen coalition king. After having all his dirty laundry revealed at lunch today, he was left with no coalitions whatsoever.

"Today wasn't my lucky day, and I didn't really bring my A-game to the table." He admitted in a confessional. "But it's not like anybody else did any better. The only person who actually added money to the pot last challenge was Jeri Katou, so go figure. Everybody is still a suspect in my eyes…" 

He suddenly grinned as he pointed his finger directly at Misty. 

"Only some people are more suspicious than others…"

* * *

The players were at separate rooms as they take their sixth execution quiz, ten questions about the identity of the Mole.

Jeri Katou tapped her finger on the mouse as she read the fourth question of the quiz.

"I'm leaning toward Jessie in the quiz tonight. She could act like she is trying so hard in challenges, but she could just as easily lose all our efforts by breaking a few rules and suffering through penalties. I think it's very smart of her and the plan is working very well."

Misty Waterflower sighed a little while doing the second question of the quiz.

"I don't trust Matt Ishida one bit. All this time he has been lying and manipulating with each of us. He makes us feel very secure in a coalition with him while he knows exactly what we are thinking. And imagine how much more efficient the Mole would be if he knows everything the players are thinking off…"

Struggling on the seventh question of the quiz, Matt Ishida leant forward and reread the question on the computer screen.

"Misty's performances in challenges were hardly redeeming. It just seems to me that every time she gets a chance to add money into the pot, she screws it up. And even though I mended things with her, I still don't trust the girl. Not one bit."

Jessie was proceeding with the ninth question of the quiz.

"At the last challenge, the twerp Gary did have all the tools needed to add 100,000 into the pot and oh my, what a sum of money that would be! But the important key here is that he failed to actually put the money into the pot. Gary had it in his grasp, but he totally lost it. And that to me is very suspicious."

Gary was browsing his cursor down a five named list on the final question of the quiz: _ Who is the Mole?_

"Jeri has been laying below the radar for the past couple of days after a few over-the-top incidents earlier. And now I think people are not suspecting her any more because she has been so damn quiet. It's that kind of psychology that makes Jeri get away with shit like this. She makes a big scene and then quickly fades away, so nobody will notice that she is the Mole."

* * *

One by one, the five players sat in a linear row of chairs across from Yamaki's desk and laptop. The host silently marched into the living room, making a very dreadful and unnoticeable entrance.

"Welcome to the sixth execution players. For one of you, the journey ends here. I will randomly begin typing your names into the computer. When your name comes up, if the screen flashes green, you are safe. If the screen flashes red, you are the Mole's sixth victim."

Yamaki sat down behind his laptop and looked at the group of players, searching for a name to enter in.

"Musashi."

The tall and villainous diva sat emotionlessly on her seat, not even moving one muscle as her name was slowly being typed on the keyboard.__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

"Shigeru."

Wrinkling his nose a little bit, the young professor sat in a lazy slouch on his seat. Like always, he always had a look on his face that seemed to dare the screen to flash red.__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

"Juri."

The raven-eyed girl was not as confident as her past two competitors. With the numbers shrinking down, Jeri felt very nervous as she watched the pending screen.__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

"We are down to two players," Yamaki announced. He scanned his eyes between the blonde and the redhead. "Kasumi and Yamato, one of you will be executed from the game."

"Yamato."

Matt leant over and whispered a "good luck" to Misty. Misty just closed her eyes, knowing that a green screen appearing will automatically spell doom for her.__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed red.

Matt ran his hand through his blonde hair one last time. He turned to watch Misty smiling somberly at the screen.

"Yamato, you are the Mole's sixth victim. You've been executed from the game. Please follow me."

The strapping blonde leapt up from his seat and exchanged some type of farewell with each of the players. He gave a friendly hug to Jeri, whispered something into Misty's ear that made her smile, a congratulating handshake with Gary and a light peck on Jessie's cheek.

Afterward, Matt picked up his bag and waved a final goodbye to the rest of the group. The two blondes slowly left through the door.

"Despite his number of coalitions, I still think Matt is a great guy. He really took the time to know each and every one of us and often he makes us feel like we are the most special person in the world," said Jeri.

"Matt was awesome. He can always keep any conversation flowing," Misty nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'll give him props to that." Jessie echoed, in a rare moment of agreeing with Jeri and Misty. "He was also a great kisser too! If Sora wasn't such a lucky girl, I would definitely swipe him as my boyfriend without a doubt."

* * *

Outside of the house, Matt let out a huge sigh. Yamaki couldn't distinguish whether it was relief or disappointment. It was always hard to read Matt Ishida, despite how outgoing and sociable he was, there always seemed to be something very aloof about the handsome blonde. And in many ways, Yamaki often found himself relating to Matt – almost like he was a younger version of himself…

"Here I am, how the mighty has fallen!" Matt chuckled, running his hand through his blonde hair. "You can laugh if you want to."

"You were pretty powerful for a while," Yamaki smirked. "You did have a coalition with every single player in the game. You were the king of coalitions!"

"Too bad it backfired on me. I guess I am a fallen king." He laughed.

Matt watched the bus slowly pulled into the driveway, almost bringing his time in this game to an end.

"I have no hard feelings though," Matt continued. "I got defeated by four strong contenders and I have no regrets over that. Yamaki, you have the four best players left in the game. Any of them winning would be a deserving winner."

"Who are you rooting for?" Yamaki asked as Matt made his way to the bus.

"Riley, of course! Win it for me, baby!" Matt laughed as he greeted the purple haired bus driver. He winked flirtatiously at Riley, who could only muddle up a weak smile in response. Yamaki chuckled softly under his breath, shaking his head very slowly.

Even after he was executed from the game, Matt Ishida was still working his magic.

The engine started, the bus doors closed, and eventually the tiny bus disappeared into the lonely streets of Toronto.****

END OF EXECUTION #6__

Next Episode:** Vile Villainous Victory**

Being the lone male in the game, Gary Oak will just do about anything to make it into the finals. Is there room in the Final Three for his big ego? Or will girl power prevail?

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay of this chapter, but if there was any excuse, it was the _longest_ chapter yet! Actually, since I never published a chapter beyond the Final Five in the original story, I had to start this chapter from scratch without any material to refer to.

Matt was a character that I really took a risk with. I took his character and warped him into this charming, slick and flirtatious camera hog instead. My Matt probably had no resemblance to the lone wolf from Season 1! But in result, it was always very easy to fit Matt into a scene. You can always insert a sexual innuendo or a great catchy quote with Matt around!

Nevertheless Matt was slanted to be the sixth victim. And now we are down to four. Is it possible to actually have an all-female Final Three? You will find out soon enough in the next chapter! The end is near…

By the way, there is a new title change for Episode 7! This one just sounds a little better! Sorry if you've caught a red herring!

And here are the official poll results of _Who is the Mole_ from Episode 5! Misty and Jeri continue to be the top two suspects, but will your opinions change after reading this episode?

28 percent – Misty  
23 percent – Jeri  
20 percent – Jessie  
18 percent – Matt  
13 percent – Gary

Go vote in the Mole Poll for Episode 6 now! 


	7. Episode 7: Vile Villainous Victory

**The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition**  
By: Gomamon 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.****

Episode 7 – Vile Villainous Victory

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon 02) _--- EXECUTED THIRD

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon 01) _--- EXECUTED SIXTH

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon 03) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FIRST

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon 03)_ --- EXECUTED FIFTH

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FOURTH

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora_ (Digimon 01) _--- EXECUTED SECOND

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

* * *

It was the following morning after Matt Ishida's surprising execution from the game. While the sun was ambitiously rising in the cloudy skies of Toronto, the three women were still sleeping cozily in their beds. The only person awake in the house was Gary Oak, sitting calmly by the fireplace and reading the newspaper.

Gary had always been an early riser. It was a usual habit for the young perfectionist professor to be the first person up and awake. This was the period of time when he was in absolute solitude. During the early hours of the day, nobody could disturb him or his analytical thoughts. So naturally, this was also the time when his brain functioned with the most clarity.

He may not be the most humble player at times, nor was he hardly a pleasant person to be around with. But nobody could deny the fact that Gary was a very intelligent competitor. He was careful, he was thorough and he was observant. With these attributes, it would seem like Gary was on a cakewalk to win this entire game.

After all, he already outlasted all his male competitors. Gary Oak was the last man standing.

"I don't think it matters if they are male or female, I'm going to beat them all. It's just that the other guys were either too soft or too stupid," Gary said in a matter-of-fact voice. And then with a smarmy smirk, he added, "Or in Ash's case…both."

As the game progressed, the young professor grew more and more confident about his standing in the game. He thought he had already figured out who the Mole was. And the only thing standing between Gary and the money were two more quizzes. How hard could it be?

Jeri Katou was certainly not a fan of the conceited professor who talked down to her like a foolish little girl. She took out her hand puppet and started to imitate Gary in a camera confessional.

"Jeri, do you know what you are doing? Jeri, if you don't know what you are doing, then don't get involved. Jeri, didn't I just tell you to scram?"

She pouted a little, brushing strands of hair out of her face and continued with her confessional.

"I don't think 'modesty' or 'humbleness' is in Gary's vocabulary. He has a bit of an ego problem. A _huge_ ego problem, that's for sure."

Regardless of what the other players thought of him, Gary was very confident about his chances right now. He widened the conceited smirk on his pointed face.

"The Mole might be doing her thing as if nobody knows who she is, but I'm on to her now and watching her every move. I am certain that I will win this game. I don't even care who is in the finals with me. Two more quizzes and you can officially name me as the winner who defeated the Mole. Thanks for handing me the victory on a silver platter, everyone. Nice tries, but you never really stood a chance against me."

Just by the way he talked with such a dynamic self-belief and delusional confidence, it would almost seem Gary Oak would be the pretentious winner of this competition.

And if he lost…?

No, Gary Oak would _not_ lose. After working so hard to make the Final Four, losing was not an option. _No!_ He came too damn close to lose now! He didn't deserve to lose! He was not a loser!

Gary Oak was only destined to be the winner of this game…

Losing was for _ other_ people.

* * *

Jessie was slowly striding down the staircase like a queen walking down the red carpet. She was wearing her usual outfit, a tight black tank top and a short revealing skirt. The lusty camera lowered down to her waist, capturing the tempting motion of her hips shaking left and right, left and right…

"Well damn, girlfriends! This game just lost a major piece of eye candy, so there will be no more joy in this world. Now I'm left with three whiny bitches, and yes, that includes you, Mr. Oak."

The camera slowly leveled up to Jessie's face again. She sneered mockingly and continued to walk down the stairs while conducting her camera confessional. For maximum effect, the sassy diva placed a finger below her left eye to fake a tear trickling down her face.

Known for her sharp venomous tongue and bitter words, Jessie simply wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind. It could be rude or offensive to some, but Jessie simply didn't give a damn. She faked a yawn in front of the cameras.

"The players left are all so boring but me. Gary is an asshole. Misty is a twerp. Jeri is basically a non-entity. Where are all the interesting people? I can't be expected to carry on the show by myself. I think this game just died a little."

Placing her foot on the last step of the staircase, Jessie could see the other three players waiting impatiently in the living room. Yamaki stood emotionlessly in front of them, although he had a hint of irritation at the lateness of Jessie.__

I love it when they have to wait for me. Jessie smirked to herself as she took a leisure stroll to join them on the sofas. 

"Thank you for being fashionably late, Jessie." Misty muttered, rolling her eyes.

"For our next task, I need the four of you to divide into two groups: three people with good minds and one dummy," said Yamaki.

"I'll be the dummy." Misty raised her hand to volunteer. "The three of you are probably smarter than me."

"Damn right about that," Jessie smirked.

"Are you sure you want to be the dummy?" Gary arched his eyebrow. "I'd much rather nominate Jeri for the position instead."

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Misty narrowed her eyes. 

Jerk. Jeri thought, although she kept her thoughts to herself. The sensitive girl wore a faint frown on her face, with her head pointing dejectedly on the floor.

"If we are going to isolate one person, I'd want Jeri to take on the responsibility because I trust her more than you." Gary replied.

"Oh!" Jessie smiled mischievously. "So you don't think the girl has it in her to sabotage a challenge?"

"No comment." Gary was always tight lipped when it came down to revealing his suspicions in public, especially when there were only four players left.

"Jeri, do you want to be the dummy instead?" Misty asked, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't really mind being in either group."

"No, everything is fine."

"I take it that Kasumi is the dummy and the three of you are the smart ones." Yamaki clarified. "Come down with me to the basement, all of you."

The four players followed Yamaki to another set of staircase descending to the basement. The small basement was surprisingly cleared of any objects. The only items in the room were a stationary bike and a laptop. There were some mysterious looking cables and wires connected between them.

"There are four CDs scattered and hidden somewhere in this house. The three smart people's task is to find these CDs and insert it into this laptop." Yamaki slowly walked over to the computer desk where the laptop was placed on. "Then you will have to download the contents into the laptop, which will take exactly three minutes. Once completed, a clue to the location of your next CD will appear."

"How much time will we have to complete this?" Gary interjected.

"That's where the dummy's role comes in." Yamaki answered, smiling delicately. "The battery of this laptop is low, and it will continue to lose one percent of its power every fifteen seconds. It is up to Kasumi to ride on this exercise bike to cause a charge and pump energy into the laptop battery. If you move the pedals fast enough, you will be able to maintain the battery life at a steady level, or even extend it."

"Does this challenge end when there is no more battery to the laptop?" Misty asked.

"Precisely. If the laptop runs out of battery, it will shut down and the challenge will end right there. You have as much time as long as the battery does not die out." Yamaki then pointed at a tiny status bar indicating the amount of power on the screen. "Since there are no more questions, let's begin."

At the start of go, Misty swiftly hopped on the bike and kicked her feet to the pedals. Jessie immediately started to race up the staircase, with Gary following closely behind. However, Jeri remained behind in the basement.

"Wait! Don't go anywhere yet!" She yelled. That stopped Jessie and Gary in their tracks, as they quickly ran back down the stairs to join Jeri.

"What is it?"

"Shouldn't we start looking at the basement first? It is the most obvious place!" Jeri said.

"Jeri has a point, you should listen to her more." added Misty.

"But there's nothing in here!" Jessie argued as her eyes quickly scanned the empty basement. "There is only a bike, a desk and a stupid laptop! There's nothing else!"

"There is one more place that you haven't looked at yet…" Jeri said, as she pressed a button on the laptop. The CD drive mechanically opened and there it was - CD number one.

"H-how did you know?" Jessie stammered in awe.

"Slow and steady wins the race, guys." Jeri grinned, inserting the CD into the laptop again. A new window suddenly appeared that read: _Download Status: 1 completed_

"I'm not just going to stand around here and wait for a damn clue to show up in three minutes. This house isn't that big!" Jessie said, running for the staircase again.

"Wait! You should at least stay around to see what the clue is first!" Jeri shouted.

Jessie shot Jeri a deadly silencing glare before racing up the stairs, and for a few seconds, their eyes locked with each other. A little frightened and intimidated, the little girl quickly turned her head the other way to avoid the glare. Jessie had won the showdown again. Nobody messes with Jessie.

* * *

"How the hell did she know where the first CD was?" Jessie vented to the cameras as soon as she was in the living room. "The girl is so the Mole, I tell you."

The tall Team Rocket villain jogged over to the coffee table, where its surface was covered by dozens of newspaper and magazines. She rummaged through the pile, searching for a CD with little success.

"The house is not that big! It can't be that difficult!" She exclaimed furiously.

At the basement, the players still needed to wait one more minute for the downloading process to be completed. Gary, however, was paying more attention to the power status bar on the screen. It was moving shakily between 97 and 98.

"You have a lot of responsibility on you. Don't mess up." He said, without turning around to face Misty. The athlete only rolled her eyes behind his back, as she continued to pick up her speed on the bicycle. 

"I'm glad Misty took on this task. I doubt I'll be able to ride on this bike that long." Jeri giggled nervously.

The downloading process finally finished. Gary quickly opened up their first clue, while Jeri removed the CD from the drive.

"It's a riddle," said Gary as he read the screen:__

Thirty men with ladies, two,  
Standing around with nothing to do,  
Dressed in formal, black and white,  
Yet when they move it begins a fight.

"Umm…how is this going to help us about the location? I don't get it at all." Jeri laughed nervously, reading the riddle as well.

"It sounds like a ball or some kind of dance party," commented Gary.

"Well, it has to be something found in this house." Jeri reread the question again. "Why are there only two ladies?"

"Thirty two people." Gary muttered to himself. "Thirty two…what has the number thirty two in this house?"

"Should I call Jessie down to read the clue?" Jeri asked. Gary nodded his head and sent the girl on her way.

"You know, this sounds more and more familiar." Gary put both his hands behind his head. "I should know this!"

Gary moved closer to the screen to read the question one more time. Suddenly he leapt back, with a big smirk on his face.

"I think I've got it. This sounds a lot like chess! There are sixteen white pieces and sixteen black pieces, and two queens."

"There is a chess table in Kenta's old room, if I remembered correctly." Misty pointed out.

Gary immediately dashed for the staircase just as Jeri and Jessie were hurrying down.

"I've got it! It's the chess table in Kenta's room!" Gary exclaimed, running away like an escaped convict. Jessie groaned and began to climb up the stairs again.

Yamaki looked on with interest as Misty continued to ride her bicycle. Although she is putting in a lot of effort, the power of the battery is slowly decreasing. It was now down to the 88 level.

"How are you hanging in there, Kasumi?" Yamaki asked.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" Misty laughed and flicked a thumb up. "I will not give up."

"I can tell you are able to do this for a long time. But how confident are you in your teammates?" Yamaki asked.

"Are you trying to offer me an exemption or something?" Misty narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"No, no." Yamaki waves his hand in dismissal. "I just want to hear your opinion about things right now."

"Well, I think it was a stupid idea for Jessie to just run upstairs instead of waiting for the clue. She doesn't even know where she is looking at! It was definitely very impulsive." Misty said. "She could be sabotaging."

"Interesting…do you think she is the Mole?"

Misty smiled impishly at Yamaki for a few seconds as she thought over her answer. Yamaki smiled back.

"No, I don't think she is the Mole. Jessie is too emotional to be the Mole. Judging from her angry outbursts throughout the game, she doesn't strike me as the type of player who can keep a calm and leveled head during challenges."

Misty shrugged, closing her eyes as she continued her answer.

"But of course, I could be wrong. Now that I think about it, that personality is the _perfect_ cover-up for the Mole…"

* * *

The door to Kenta's room, which was normally locked, was now opened for access. The trio of players rushed in and immediately spotted the chess table by the east wall of the room. Gary ran up to it and opened the drawers.

"Found it!" Gary grinned as he pulled out the second CD from the chess table.

"Good job! Let's go back to basement and download it!" Jeri said.

"I can't do this much running," complained Jessie. But nevertheless, she followed the pair into the basement, albeit begrudgingly.

"We've got the CD!" Jeri squealed as soon as she saw Misty in the basement.

Misty laughed in glee, and then for a second, as if the excitement had caught on to the athletic gym leader, she had removed her feet off the pedals of her bike.

"Don't stop! What are you doing?" Jessie alertly shouted out. Misty gasped in panic and immediately started to kick her feet on the pedals again.

Jeri quickly turned her head to the laptop screen. The battery had suddenly dropped to a shaky 83.__

How could it have dropped so much? Jeri wondered to herself. _Unless she stopped biking as soon as we all left the basement…_

"I wished the download would hurry up," muttered Jessie as she tapped her fingers on the desk impatiently.

"Be patient." Gary scolded.

Three minutes later, their second clue had popped up on the screen. Yet again, it's another riddle for them to solve:__

I heat up almost everyday,  
but it's not that I am sick.  
I can burn occasionally,  
but to watch me is the trick.

"These riddles are harrrrrd!" Jessie bitched, pounding her hand on the desk in frustration.

"This sounds like the fireplace!" Jeri yelled out.

"I'd say that sounds about right! Let's take a look!" Gary had already run to the staircase by this time, as the other two ladies followed.

Gary was the first to arrive at the fireplace. He leered inside, but he could see no CDs anywhere under the burned logs and coal. Jessie suggested they look up the chimney, but Jeri insisted that it was a stupid idea.

"May be it isn't the fireplace," said Jeri. "There are other things in the house that heats up."

"That kind of sounds like human temperature," commented Gary. "May be we are looking for a thermometer?"

"That doesn't make any sense." Jessie shook her head. "I'd say we are looking for a stove or something in the kitchen."

They raced to the kitchen and started rummaging through all the appliances. Jessie went straight to the stove. Seeing as there are no CDs, she picked up a nearby kettle and shook it.

"Hey guys, I could hear something inside this kettle. The CD might be in it," she said. She reached her hand instead, but immediately pulled her scorched hand out of the hot water.

"Is the water really hot?" Jeri asked, looking at Jessie's bright red hand in fright.

"What do _you_ think? Shit!" Jessie waved her hand around. "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure there's something in there."

Gary took the logical approach and emptied the kettle by pouring all the water out from the sink. At last, he pulled out a tiny penny out of the kettle.

"It was a coin. Coins and CDs make very different sounds, Jessie." Gary said in a matter-of-fact voice. Jessie just rolled her eyes.

"Let's look through other appliances!" Jeri said as she leered inside the oven.

"There's nothing in the microwave," said Gary as he quickly opened and shut the microwave.

"I found it! No wait, that's a saucer!" Jessie groaned as she opened up drawers. Beside her, Jeri and Gary were going through plates and dishes in the sink to find any CDs.

"There's none in this pot either…" Jeri leered inside a big pot sitting mysteriously on the counter.

"May be it's in the furnace!" Jessie suggested.

"What furnace?" Gary asked suspiciously.

"I don't know. But I just have an instinct that the CD isn't in the kitchen."

"Alright, let's go then."

Before they left, Jeri curiously opened the microwave one more time. There was a box of frozen pizza inside it. Jeri looked at it with bafflement, and then slowly lifted the pizza box out of the microwave.

"I found it!" Jeri yelled to her departing teammates, pulling out the CD. "It was under the pizza box the whole time!"

"What?" Jessie gasped and then she turned her head to face Gary. "I thought you said there was nothing in the microwave!"

"There wasn't anything! It was just a pizza box! I didn't see any CDs!" Gary argued.

"Gee, don't you think it could be _under_ the pizza box?" Jessie smacked her forehead with her hand. "How dense can you be?"

"Stop arguing! I found the CD! Let's go down to the basement!" Jeri said.

After inserting the CD into the laptop, the group once again had three more minutes to wait until their next clue. Jeri couldn't keep her eye off the status bar, which is now at 66. She looked over at Misty, who was sweating on the forehead and showing signs of fatigue. She wanted to say something, but she didn't want it to discourage Misty at all.

"I thought it was very suspicious you said the CD wasn't in the microwave when it actually was." Jessie folded her arms to confront Gary. However, the conceited professor was always prepared for a verbal showdown.

"I thought it was very suspicious when you said that the CD was in the kettle, but it actually wasn't," Gary countered back.

"Why you little big mouthed twerp!" Jessie shook her fist at the smirking professor.

"I'm getting really tired. You might have to hurry up" Misty smiled weakly at the three players. 

"Why is it so low?" Gary pointed at the status bar on the computer, which is now at 55. "I thought you were supposed to maintain the power at a steady level."

"I don't know why it is dropping. Nothing seems to work!" Misty cried in exasperation.

"Had it ever went up? You look all sweaty and all, but I don't see any work being paid off." Jessie asked.

But before Misty could answer, the CD had finished downloading and the final clue now appeared on the screen:

_A teller of truth and lies.  
History is told by me.  
Wonders and mystery I shall show.  
For the world can be reached when I am held._

"This sounds like a book," Jeri stated. Gary nodded his head in approval and the group set off to find the fifth and final CD.

"Where's the bookcase?" Gary asked as he darted up the stairs.

"There's one in every room!" Jessie groaned. "And how do we know which book we are looking for?"

"Let's just go through each and every book quickly. We will have to find out eventually," suggested Jeri.

They made their first stop at Misty's bedroom, where they rummaged through her glass bookcase. They took books from the shelves, do a quick examination before tossing it on the floor. After the tens of books had been declared empty, they moved on to the next room.

But after unsuccessful searches in Gary and Jeri's rooms, Gary knew something was not right with their method.

"I don't think it's a book." Gary put his arms on his hips, inhaling a deep breath. "It's too general. We have to be more specific."

"Then what is it?" Jessie grunted, slightly frustrated in her tone.

"May be the answer is in the newspapers?" Jeri asked. "I remembered seeing some on the coffee table in the living room."

"Of course! That makes perfect sense!" Gary hit himself lightly on the head with his fist. The group quickly ran back to the living room to look for the CD.

"I've looked over there before. I don't think it's here," said Jessie.

"Are you certain that you didn't miss something?" Gary asked, lifting up various magazines and newspaper on the table.

"Yes." Jessie said, "I don't think it's here..."

After doing a quick search through the books and newspaper on the coffee table, they found nothing. For the first time, they were out of ideas. They decided to look in the closet for a clue, searching through pockets, jackets and other articles of clothing.

"I'm still pretty sure it's at the coffee table," said Jeri. "My gut instinct tells me the answer is newspaper or book."

"But we looked everywhere, and we can't find it!" Gary calmly replied.

"I don't know. I'm just sure that it's here…" Jeri said, as she marched toward the coffee table and inspected it one more time

"Little one, stop wasting time and help us look!" Jessie angrily wagged her finger at Jeri.

"What's this?" Jeri kneeled down and pulled out a CD under the coffee table. "Hey, here it is!"

"It was under the coffee table! I knew it!" Gary grinned. "Let's go to the basement to finish this challenge!"

"We so have the challenge in the bag," said Jessie.

"Unless the laptop runs out of battery…" said Gary in a tone that definitely resembled ominous foreshadowing.

"Don't say that!" Jeri scolded Gary as she took her steps down the staircase.

"Doesn't anyone find it odd how the battery is going down so gradually low?" Jessie asked. "I think she is slacking off when she is alone at the basement."

"No, Misty will never do that." Jeri shook her head.

"May be we know the redhead twerp better than you do, little one…"

* * *

Power Remaining: 20

That was the current status bar shown on the laptop screen. Gary anxiously looked at the laptop. They have waited for three minutes already…shouldn't the downloading be completed by now?

"Don't give up yet, Misty! This is the final stretch!" Jeri said, and Misty smiled weakly in response. Truth was, she was getting really exhausted on this bicycle. The challenge had carried on almost thirty minutes now and she hadn't stopped since.

Finally a new window appeared on the laptop.__

Congratulations! You have added $40,000 into the pot!

"Yes!" Jessie raised her arm in triumph. Beside her, Misty hopped out of the bicycle and embraced a squealing Jeri in a big warm hug.

"We did it! We did it!" Jeri giggled. "We worked together as a group and did it!"

"Congratulations," Yamaki finally spoke up. "You have added $40,000 into the pot. The group pot now stands at $303,000."****

POT: $303,000/$670,000

Gary nodded his head in satisfaction, and in a rare moment, there was a genuine smile on his face. It felt good to be a winner.

"I'm sure you were all wondering why the battery was dying so quickly," said Yamaki, wearing a devilish smirk on his face.

"Oh hell yeah!" Jessie folded her arms across her chest. "What was up with that?"

"Kasumi kicked this wire right at the beginning of the challenge, and therefore disconnecting the power transfer between the laptop and the bike."

The players all kneeled down to see where Yamaki was talking about. Indeed, there was an unhooked wire hanging nearby the pedals. Misty made a loud groaning noise as soon as she saw it.

"Does this mean I did all that work for _nothing_?"

"Precisely," Yamaki nodded. "But you've won this challenge anyway, but this is some nice food for thought. Enjoy the rest of the day!"

"I feel so, so, so, so stupid now." Misty shook her head and almost laughed at herself. Jeri gave the gym leader another comforting hug. "Oh well, as long as we won the challenge!"

But all of the players have other thoughts about this topic. Gary immediately retreated to his room to record a camera confessional.

"We would have definitely lost the challenge if the three of us didn't complete everything so quickly. Misty had disconnected the wires right at the beginning of the challenge, so that was the cause of why the power was decreasing so rapidly. Shouldn't she have noticed it or something? Luckily, we didn't lose the challenge, but she really screwed up. May be it was an accurate label to call her the dummy."

Jessie was also in her room, relaxing on her bed after a glorious win. 

"There were lots of suspicious sabotages in this challenge. Gary overlooked a blatant clue. Jeri often gave us misleading leads. And then there's the whole bicycle thing with Misty. I tell you, you just can't rely on those twerps. But no matter what, we won this challenge. I'm happy as hell that I triumphed over the Mole this time."

She winked at the cameras playfully and blew an air kiss with her hand.

"Take that! I defeated the Mole."

* * *

Jeri Katou was sitting on an armchair, gazing dreamily at the fluffy white clouds through the window of her room. Big comfy white clouds that she could imagine wrapping herself in. In that ideal scenario, there would also be birds chirping merrily above her and a beautiful radiant streak of rainbow across the blue endless sky.

The cameraman cleared his throat, forcing Jeri to snap back into reality. Oh right, she was supposed to be giving her confessional about her thoughts on the previous challenge.

"It feels great!" Jeri flashed the most genuine and innocent smile to the camera. "We haven't won a challenge in so long. This one really meant a lot to us. It was like a morale boost."

Jeri leant back on her chair as her eyes slowly drifted back to the window again. The dreamy girl could picture herself sleeping in a bed of clouds, tossing all her worries away and just going into a long relaxing sleep.

"I've had a lot of fun in this game and I think I really got out of my comfort zone in some cases." She smiled, without turning her head to the cameras. "But as fun as this is, I just can't wait for this game to end. Just unveil who the Mole is already and get this whole thing over with."

She added, after a brief dreamy sigh,

"I want to go home…"

Shaking her head softly, Jeri knew now was not the time to soften up. It was only in Gary and Jessie's perception of her that she would crack up at this stage of the game and give up altogether. In their minds, Jeri was just this foolish naïve little girl who didn't deserve to stay in the game.

"I'm surprised she isn't in her room and crying right now," Jessie had said in a confessional, rolling her eyes in mockery. "Or may be she has to cry in front of everyone because she wants them to feel sorry for her. Please, the others might have fallen for her act. But I saw through that phony sweetheart since day one."

Jessie never had any sympathy for her. Simply put, the two of them didn't get along with each other. Their personalities were too different and their styles were too glaringly opposite. They were destined to hate each other in this game.

"I know I'm going to look like a big bad villain when this whole thing plays out." Jessie admitted, rolling her eyes again. "Here is this mean nasty woman tearing apart the sweet innocent village girl. The whole audience is going to feel sorry for her and hate the trash talking bitch. But guess what…"

Jessie pulled herself closer to the cameras and lowered her voice to a soft sexy whisper.

"On the episode of her execution, where everyone is weeping their little eyes out for poor Jeri Katou, I would be the only person laughing in glee. I won't even keep my laughter in discreet. I would be laughing as she strut her phony ass out the door."

She smirked, tossing her long flowing hair behind her shoulder.

"And I'd grab my cup of wine and salute to the camera, because evil would have finally triumphed over good. It would be a vile villainous victory."

* * *

"Hello players. I hope you enjoyed your lunch," Yamaki walked into the dining room, breaking the awkward silence amongst the reserved players. "I have a very special gift for you."

The players turned their attention to the host's hand. He was holding four black laptops, which were slim in size and did not weigh very much. The blonde host carefully placed them on the dining table.

"These aren't for us, are they?" Misty asked, with her eyes widened out in surprise.

"Since you have made it so far in the game, this is my present for each of you. Everybody take one please."

"Get out!" Jessie exclaimed in astonishment.

"Thanks Yamaki!" Jeri beamed, taking the first laptop from the stack. She then blushed as she added, "I don't think I know how to use one though."

"They are very easy to use, relax." Yamaki placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder. "In fact, you will all be familiar with how to use your brand new laptops in your next challenge."

"This should be fun," said Gary with a cocky smirk on his face. "I'm good with computers, given all my researching background in laboratories."

"Anyway, in your next challenge…" Yamaki ignored the professor's remark like an unpleasant sneeze. "There is a program in each of your laptops that contain four puzzles. Now, these puzzles are not just run-of-the-mill puzzles. They are very difficult and tricky to solve."

"Even better!" Gary rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "I was always good with brain teasers and such."

"You will have to solve the first puzzle in order for the program allows you to proceed to the next one. Once you've entered a correct answer for all four puzzles, the program will automatically download another program. Once that is completed, you will add $80,000 into the pot."

"That's a lot of money." Misty whistled.

"You will have three hours to complete this challenge. And in order to prevent you from cheating, you will each be taking this little quiz at separate locations." Yamaki said, "One of you will stay here. One of you will go to the public library. One of you will be at the park. One of you will be inside a classroom. Take your picks."

"I'll stay here," Jeri volunteered. "I don't feel like moving around that much."

"I guess I will go to the library," said Gary, shrugging his shoulders.

"I call the classroom!" Jessie grinned.

"And that means Kasumi will be at the playground," Yamaki nodded his head. "Great, in a few moments, you will be blindfolded as we drive you to your location. None of you can start the challenge until all of you arrived at your destination."

As the three players walked to the front door, Yamaki suddenly stopped them. Gary frowned when he caught sight to a mischievous smirk on the host's face.

"Oh, and one more thing that I didn't tell you about…there is a trap somewhere in this challenge. Watch out for it and be very careful."

"What trap?" Misty asked, slightly confused.

"You will see." Yamaki coyly replied back. "All I can guarantee you is that it will add a whole new layer to this challenge…"

* * *

Tapping her fingers on a desk, Jessie took a quick look at her surroundings. She knew she was in a vacant classroom of some elementary school, surrounded by rows of desks and chairs. There was a small carpeted area with a bunch of toys and dolls on the floor. As Jessie sat behind a tiny desk, it sure brought back some sentimental memories back when she was young.

There were three blackboards in the tiny classroom. Two of them were empty, but the third one caught Jessie's attention. There was one phrase written on the board in bright yellow chalk: _60 seconds 1 minute_.

"I wonder what that means…" Jessie muttered to herself. She did see a multiplication table poster on the wall, so she figured it might be a math classroom. After all, she also saw a few calculators on the teacher's desk.

"You may start the challenge now," said the voice of a producer, interrupting her thoughts.

Immediately Jessie turned on her laptop. There was this long dreadful logging on process she had to endure though, and when it reached the menu section, the laptop requested for a username and a password. Key by key, she slowly typed in the words "mole" in the password bar, a password that Yamaki had given them beforehand.

After a minute of long loading time, the computer was finally turned on. As instructed earlier, she clicked on the shortcut that read "Challenge", and a new window popped up on the screen. Yamaki's face suddenly appeared in the window.

"Hello," said the mechanical voice of Yamaki. It was a pre-recorded video clip from the host.

"Hello there, Yamaki." Jessie laughed.

"You will be solving a series of brain teasers that will be displayed on your screen. As you could see, there is a tiny bar on the bottom of the screen for you to type in your answer, type in your answer in that bar with proper spelling and capitalization. 

If the answer is correct, you will move on to the next question. If the answer is incorrect, this program will close and your laptop will automatically restart. You will have to start over again. Also, you may not leave your seat in this challenge until you finished."

"Hmm." Jessie said, tapping her finger rhythmically on the table. The window featuring Yamaki slowly faded to black as the first question appeared on the screen:__

Decipher this phrase: Oerto

Jessie hesitated as she reread the question again. Nope, she still didn't get it. The Team Rocket villain had no idea what it meant or even what the brain teaser was asking for.

"I'm just not meant to solve these mind puzzles," Jessie said. "These are more in Gary's field or something, as much as I hate to admit it."

Jessie moved her mouse to highlight the answer bar on the screen. She lingered her fingers on the keyboard with uncertainty. She knew that if she answered incorrectly, her computer will restart and will waste a _ lot_ of time loading up again. Ugh, she _hated_ waiting.

Finally she typed in the answer "Ontario" and clicked the enter key. She crossed her fingers, hoping that was the correct answer for her to move on to the next question.

The laptop beeped and the screen turned black - it was restarting again. Jessie wrinkled her nose and mouthed a soft cuss word under her breath.

"Hopefully the others are having better luck than I am."

* * *

"Yeah, I got the first answer." Jeri giggled as she explained to the cameras. "I knew the word was Operation, but four of the letters are missing. P, A, I and N. Without these four letters, the phrase becomes a painless operation. Get it?"

Jeri turned her head back to the second question and read it out loud:__

What is the sixth letter of this series: B, C, E, G?, Q, S, W

Reading the question one more time, Jeri quickly deduced that the answer must be a letter between G and Q. She could definitely try typing all of them out one by one, but that might take her a very long time if she answered incorrectly.

"There must be a pattern. There is always a pattern." She murmured to herself as she wrote down the sequence of letters on a piece of paper. As a visual learner, she could absorb ideas better if she wrote them down. "May be the letters represent for something? What could they be though?"

She pulled her head away from the computer screen and searched around the room for clues. Jeri was seated on a chair in the dining room, having never left the comfort of the house like others. Yamaki sat right across from her, merrily typing into his laptop and minding his own business.

Turning her head back at the screen, she finally decided that it would be a quicker method if she just randomly typed the letters in one by one. There were only twenty six letters in the alphabet after all. How hard could it be? She hit the key "H" on her keyboard and entered, hoping for the best.

But it was an incorrect answer. The program closed down and the laptop forced itself to restart again.__

This is going to take a while. Jeri sighed softly to herself. 

After a minute, the menu showed up and requested for her username and password. Jeri was not an experienced typist, so she had to look down at the keyboard constantly as she punched in the letters. She typed in the password "mole" into the laptop to continue.

"I'll have to wait this long every time I get an incorrect answer." Jeri explained to the cameras glumly. "Now I have to wait for everything to load, and when I click on the program, I have to listen to this really long speech by Yamaki before the program actually launches itself. If my next letter "I" is not the correct answer, then I will have to start this whole process again. It is very repetitive."

"Hello. You will be solving a series of brain teasers…"

* * *

Misty Waterflower was sitting on a park bench in the playground, but she was not alone. There were lots of children around her, laughing and running around the playground like unleashed animals in a zoo. Little boys and girls flopping on see-saws, soaring in the sky with swings and gliding giddily down the slides. Misty almost envied their carefree spirits.

The menu screen finished loading for the Cerulean gym leader, and Misty swiftly punched in 'mole' as the password. Like Jeri, she was forced to restart her laptop after entering an incorrect answer on a question.

As the screen loaded, Misty drifted her eyes back at the happy laughing children. Just seeing them play so merrily brought a smile to her face. Being the youngest sibling in a big family, she had always loved little children. She wanted to take on the responsibility of an older sister for once.

Misty turned her attention back to the laptop and clicked for the program to start. A new window popped up on the screen and the clip of Yamaki explaining the instruction was played again.

"Hello, you will be solving a series of brain teasers..."

"I wished there was a fast forward button," joked Misty. "I've heard him say this for at least five times already."

"…also, you may not leave your seat until you have completed."

The video clip stopped and the first question appeared on the screen. Having figured this rebus in the first few minutes, she typed in "painless operation" in the answer bar with ease. She moved on to the second question.

"M for Misty!" Misty laughed as she entered the letter M. She had figured out the answer to this question a few minutes ago. She was now on her third question:__

An employee named Jane works in a secret laboratory. To gain access into the lab, she must enter a password into the computer outside of the door. One day, she found out that she could not log into her computer terminal. Her password didn't work. Then she remembered that passwords reset every month for security purposes. She went to her boss for assistance.

"Boss, my password is out of date," said Jane.

"Yes, that's right." The boss smiled. "The password is different, but if you listen carefully you should be able to figure out the new one. It has the same amount of letters as your old password, but only four of the letters are the same."

"Thank you, sir!"

With that, Jane went and correctly entered the password into the computer to gain access into the lab. What was the new password?

"Huh?" Misty scratched her head in puzzlement. "Did I read past a few lines where the answer was?"

"I know the answer is right in front of me. I just can't see it…and when I finally figured this out, I will be smacking my forehead and wondering why I can't find such an obvious answer."

Then the gym leader chuckled in amusement.

"Kind of reminds me of this game in general."

* * *

BEEP!

"Shit," muttered the professor when he realized that he had typed in an incorrect answer. His laptop was restarting again.

That curse word got him a few nasty glances from people hanging around the bookshelves, but he couldn't care less. He sat in a slouchy posture around one of the many tables in the library. People everywhere around him were reading or browsing through books, it was a studious atmosphere.

When the menu screen showed up, he typed his own name in the toolbar to log on. After everything was set, he started the program, and tuned out of Yamaki's opening speech. After a minute of listening to his recorded instructions, Gary quickly typed in the answer to the first puzzle.

"The first answer is painless operation," he said. "The four letters missing from the word operation is pain, so it's a painless operation."

He moved on to the second question, and Gary pressed the key M.

"The second answer is M. This is actually a sequence of prime numbers, but letters replaced the numbers instead. B is the second letter, C is the third letter, E is the fifth letter and so on. Since it asked for the sixth "prime" letter, it has to be letter number thirteen – which is M."

Now on his third question, Gary did not hesitate as he typed in "different" in the answer key bar.

"The third answer is different. If you read the question very easily, the boss actually says what the password is. This one was extremely easy, I got it right away."

And finally, Gary arrived at his fourth question, the one that stumped him the most:__

In a faraway country, there are over one hundred adjacent streets. Street 1 is named First Street, street 2 is named Second Street. This trend continues on and on.

A traveler decides to walk through all of these streets in the country. He could find all the streets except for Street 62. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find it. When he asked a local to help him identify the street, he learned that the street was given another name.

What is the name?

"Not to brag or anything, but I breezed through the previous three puzzles like wind. But the fourth question…it's very challenging." Gary scratched his head and winced. He didn't like being stumped at a question. After all he was a self-proclaimed puzzle king.

"What is the name of the sixty second street?" He asked himself. "It seems like there is a twist in this question, but I'm missing it. Why is that number singled out?"

He closed his eyes and dropped his head to the table to think, mumbling words to himself. Spectators beside him looked at him with funny glances, wondering what the young man was up to.

"Sixty second street…sixty second street…sixty second street."__

There has to be a connection! Gary thought, bringing his head up from the table. He repeated the phrase a few more times under his breath. 

Is this a play on words?

"Sixty seconds…" Gary then started to grin, as if an imaginary light bulb lit above his head, "…equals to one minute. The street is called Minute Street!"

The young professor typed in "Minute Street" into the answer bar, and indeed it was the correct answer. A new window popped up on the screen, featuring another video clip of Yamaki. In a cold mechanical voice, he announced:

"Congratulations, you have solved the brain teasers in the allotted time. You add $80,000 into the pot."****

POT: $383,000/$750,000

However, Yamaki's video clip did not stop as he would have expected. Instead the message continued on. Just from the devilish tone in the host's voice, Gary sensed that something was going to happen out of the ordinary.

"You may remember that I mentioned something about a trap in this challenge at the beginning of the challenge. By downloading this program, you have triggered the trap.

"Starting as soon as this message is completed, this program will be replaced by a virus. When the other players download this program after they finished their four puzzles, they will obliviously download a virus instead of this message shown to you. For every infected laptop, $25,000 will be removed from the pot. It is up to you to abort their programs before they download a virus, so go immediately, for you do not have much time."

Gary sat still on his chair for a few seconds, staring at the motionless laptop. The tides have turned and the challenge was far from over. He now had to stop the other players from finishing this challenge, or they will remove $25,000 from the pot – each! The reversal of order had begun and now Gary needed to make sure the money he worked so hard to earn _stayed_ in the pot.

"I don't know where Jessie or Misty is, but I do know that Jeri is at home. I'll contact her first," explained Gary as he rushed out of the library with impressive speed.

The challenge could end almost any second, as soon as the players downloaded a virus in their computers, it would be too late for recovery. He was not racing against a set clock or a defined period of time. Instead, he was competing with how fast their brains worked.

Suddenly Gary flashed a tiny arrogant smirk to the camera, because if that was the case, he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

* * *

Jeri Katou was reading the final question of her quiz.

"This question doesn't really make sense," the girl murmured to herself. "How am I supposed to know the sixty second street's name?"

Feeling a little bummed out, the little girl dropped her head on the dining table and stared at her laptop emotionlessly. She was stumped and with her brain was fizzled out, she simply couldn't handle any more brain teasers for the day.__

Tic…tac…tic…tac…

She could hear heavy keystrokes Yamaki was typing on his laptop, and in the background, she could also hear a faint sound of the clock ticking second by second. Even the most common sound was driving Jeri's brain insane, she wanted everything to be silent! She can't think with so much noise!__

Wait a second…Jeri slowly raised her head from the table and widened her eyes. _The clock?_

"I could give it a try…" Jeri smiled impishly to herself as she typed in "Minute Street" in the toolbar. Taking a deep and final breath, the little girl entered her answer into the laptop. It was the correct answer, but the computer laptop instantly shut down. Even worse was, it wouldn't even restart.

"Hey!" Jeri gasped in panic. "What's wrong? Why won't it restart?"

She pounded the laptop lightly with her fist a few times and glanced at Yamaki for help. The host offered an empty shrug and returned to his laptop, ignoring the little girl's shock. Just then, there was a knock on the door, pounding heavily for attention.

"Gary!" Jeri gasped in surprise as she opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Stop whatever you're doing, Jeri!"

"Why?" Jeri looked at the professor with a confused face. "Anyway, can you help me with this laptop? I typed in an answer and it won't restart again! What's wrong with it?"

Gary winced and slowly made an evasive glance at Yamaki, knowing that he was about to say two words that he would have regretted hearing.

"Too late."

"What's going on?" Jeri asked.

"It's a long story, I'll explain to you on the bus." Gary grabbed Jeri's hand and pulled her to the main door. "We need to get Riley to drive us to the school and playground where the other two are, before more money gets taken out of the pot."

"Taken out of the pot? Gary, can you explain this before we leave?" Jeri shook off Gary's grasp. "I want to know what's going on first."

"Jeri, why are you stalling time?" Gary let out an irritated sigh. "I finished the puzzle, triggered a virus program and you downloaded it. Now we lost $25,000 out of the $80,000 that I earned."

"Oh wow…I'm sorry," said by Jeri in a remorseful tone.

"Yeah, yeah." Gary grunted as he opened the door. "If we are lucky, may be we could stop them before it's too late."

The pair raced outside to the garage where the mini tour bus was parked at. Riley, the bus driver, was sitting behind the steering wheel, ready to go at command. Gary instructed her to drive them where Misty and Jessie were.

"Sorry, I don't know where that is." Riley innocently smiled at them. "Be more specific."

"But you drove them there, how could you not know?" Gary sneered. "Fine, there probably aren't many schools around. Let's go to the most nearby neighbourhood elementary school." With that, Riley grinned and finally started the bus ride.

As soon as they made their arrival outside of an elementary school, Jeri and Gary hopped off the tour bus and ran inside. They knew their objective was to find Jessie as quickly as possible and stop her before she finished the challenge. The school was not too big in size, but they decided to split up in different directions as they made classroom searches for Jessie.

"Jeri just lost us $25,000." Gary muttered to the cameras as he stormed through the school hallways, searching for the Team Rocket member. "She could easily use an excuse that she didn't know what was going on. That's what Jeri does best, making important mistakes and then pretending to be oblivious to what's going on."

On the other side of the school, Jeri Katou was quietly walking through the halls as well, going through various vacant classrooms. She almost cleared up the eastern hallway of the school, except for one classroom at the end. She slowly marched toward that direction and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Jessie! Let me in!" Jeri replied back, smiling softly as she recognized Jessie's annoyed voice. She looked around to find Gary, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Two questions: why are you here and what do you want?" Jessie shot a snobby glare at the little girl after opening the door. "I'm in the middle of the quiz here."

"You aren't finished with your challenge yet?" Jeri asked in a hopeful manner.

"No, I'm still on the second question," Jessie crossed her arms across her chest. "You got a problem with that?"

"You have to stop the quiz now!" Jeri said, "Gary said that you will be taking money away from the pot!"

"So Gary told you all this?" Jessie questioned curiously. "How do you know he isn't bullshitting you?"

"It's my gut instinct. We have to trust each other," Jeri's voice sounded slightly exasperated as she continued to make her plea.

"Whatever, little one. I'd be a fool to actually believe you," Jessie turned around and began to walk back to her desk.

Jeri winced a little and took a deep breath before dashing past Jessie. Before the Team Rocket member could do anything about it, Jeri reached the laptop first. In one swift motion, she pressed a few keys on the keyboard to shut the laptop down.

"I'm sorry, but I had to do it." Jeri looked at an awestruck Jessie with a sheepish smile. "You will be happy that I did it when you know the whole story."

"How do I know Yamaki didn't offer you an exemption just to stop me from taking the quiz?" Jessie asked, with her hands on her hip and looking very angry.

"You'll just have to take my word on it! Trust me, please!"

"Trust you?" Jessie scoffed in ridicule at the innocent-looking girl. "This is coming from the same person who lied about bidding on the auction for an exemption!"

"Jessie," Jeri looked at her archrival very seriously, not about to back down from the intimidating bully any longer. It took all the courage in her tiny body to muster up a three word response back, "I _never_ lied."

* * *

The four players returned to the living room with their laptops and took seats in individual armchairs. Yamaki was standing across from all of them, with a black briefcase in his hands. Like always, he had a stoic look on his face that revealed nothing and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of black shades, even if they were inside the house.

"The challenge was simple at first," he began. "In nine minutes, Shigeru was the first person to answer all four questions on the quiz correctly and added $80,000 into the pot."

Jessie shot a glare at Gary, who was looking very proud and wearing a satisfied smirk on his face.

"But there was a trap and he triggered a virus in all of your laptops. Anybody who finishes the quiz after Shigeru would take away $25,000 from the pot. He ran all the way from the library back to the house to stop Juri, but he was a few minutes too late. At twenty-three minute mark, Juri downloaded the virus. Your earnings now drop to $55,000."

Jeri sat nervously in her own armchair, twiddling her finger with her bangs as Yamaki continued to make his announcement.

"Next, the two of you took a ride on the bus to go to the school where Musashi was located. Juri managed to stop Musashi before she finished the challenge, so therefore no money is subtracted from the pot. However, I do have a penalty to give out."

"What?" Jessie exclaimed, almost leaping out of her seat in surprise.

"As I instructed in the challenge, nobody could leave their seat when they are still doing the challenge. Musashi, you left your designated seat to open the door for Juri, which was unlocked by the way, and broke the rules. So because of that, I will have to take away $5,000 from your earnings. You are now down to $50,000."

"That's bullshit!" Jessie angrily snarled at Yamaki. "And you know it!"

"Last but not least, the three of you arrived at the park and realized it was too late. Kasumi was actually the second person to finish the challenge, and she was only a few minutes behind Shigeru in time. But in this challenge, finishing quickly doesn't mean good. She fell in the trap and also removed $25,000 from the pot."

Misty sighed softly and shrugged as if to say "Oh well, what can you do?"

"So in total, you have only added $25,000 out of a total $80,000 into the pot. The finalized pot now stands at $408,000."****

POT: $408,000/$830,000

"You will be taking your seventh execution quiz after dinner," Yamaki concluded his speech. "Good luck to all of you."

Gary Oak was the first to leave the living room to prepare for the upcoming quiz. To be honest, he was slightly irritated at losing the money he worked so hard to earn in the last challenge, but at the same time, it also helped him confirm his suspicions about the Mole. The young cocky professor now entered the quiz with a bloated ego and confidence that he perfectly knew who the Mole was.

Misty Waterflower followed after him, carrying an equally strong confidence in her stride as she walked. Having never lost sight of the prize, the determined Cerulean gym leader was now wearing a fierce smile on her face. Her competitive nature kicked into gear and now all gloves were off. It was the final stretch and she was one hundred percent motivated to kick some butts.

Jeri Katou went next, but she did not bear the same aura as the other two. Every step she took was shaky, as if it was an indication to her uncertainty of who the Mole was. Distracted by homesickness and other emotional distresses, the big-eyed innocent girl was not too sure of her chances at the next quiz. But she shook her head to clear up those thoughts, because after experiencing so many highs and lows in this game, she didn't want to go home just yet.

The last to leave was Jessie, taking a slow and stylish departure from the living room. Out of all the players here, there was no question that she was the most ruthless and would do anything in order to win this game. Her bitchy demeanour made her the villain of the group, but at the same time, she also became the underdog. Heroes can't win every single time, and there was a shimmering amount of hope in her that sometimes, just _ sometimes_, villains could also be winners.

* * *

The players, isolated in different rooms of the house, were now taking their seventh execution quiz on their laptops, ten questions about the identity of the Mole.

Pouting her lips a little, Misty answered **No** to a question on the quiz.

"Gary might have added $80,000 into the pot, but he was also responsible for triggering the trap and causing us to lose more than half of the money. He didn't put too much of an effort trying to warn us about this virus because his true intentions wanted us to download the virus. He wanted us to do his dirty work for him and remove money from the pot."

Gary shifted his mouse cursor along the screen as he read the third question of the quiz: _What role did the Mole play in the CD challenge today?_

"It was quite unambiguous to me that Misty tried to sabotage the CD scavenger hunt. She volunteered to take on the task and ride on the stationary bike because she wanted to meddle with the wires. That way, no matter how hard she pretends to be riding on the bike, she is actually just watching the battery die and doing nothing about it. Misty was actually very close to losing that challenge for us. The work of the Mole? I think so."

Stumped on the sixth question, Jessie hesitated before clicking on an answer with her mouse.

"I noticed one thing in the CD scavenger hunt this morning. Out of nowhere, Jeri would just shout out a spontaneous answer to where the CD was and guess what, it was there! She would just magically have all these answers and locations to where the CDs were, and I think she did it on purpose. She knew where the CDs were before this challenge, and it was the Mole's tactic to win this challenge so she would look less suspicious in all of our eyes."

Jeri Katou was on the final question of the quiz: _Who was the Mole?_

"Throughout the course of this game, Jessie went through a series of penalties that chipped away a fair amount of money from the pot. This time, she happened to get out of her seat to open the door from us. Just like that, she took $5,000 from the pot even when she must have heard Yamaki's instructions over ten times. Look how easy it is for the Mole to sabotage challenges…it's that simple."

* * *

The four players entered into the living room where Yamaki was sitting behind a desk and his laptop. Beside him was the fatal screen that would broadcast one of their executions.

"Welcome to the seventh execution players. For one of you, the journey ends here. I will randomly begin typing your names into the computer. When your name comes up, if the screen flashes green, you are safe. If the screen flashes red, you are the Mole's seventh victim."

Yamaki scanned his eyes across the four players, all in various states of nervousness. The most nervous was obviously little Jeri Katou, shaking slightly in her armchair.

"Juri."

The brown haired girl brought her face into her hands, covering it up as Yamaki typed in her name.__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

Jeri still had her head buried in her hands. Misty patted the little girl on her back to let her know about the good news.

"Shigeru."

The young professor was slouching in his seat and looked quite comfortable in his armchair. It didn't seem like he was ready to leave it any time soon.__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed green.

"I will now enter Musashi's name into the laptop," announced Yamaki. "If the screen is green, then that means Kasumi is executed from the game."

Jessie clicked her heels together to anticipate the intensity of this execution. She turned her head to look at Misty, who was just staring straight ahead at the screen.

"Musashi."__

tic.

tic.

tic.

tic.

The screen flashed red.

Nodding her head slowly, Jessie slowly and reluctantly rose from her seat. Misty let out a soft sigh of relief under her breath.

"Musashi, you are the Mole's seventh victim. You've been executed from the game. Please follow me."

As Jessie marched toward the door, the others silently looked at her make her departure. They were expecting for a dramatic exit or an angry outburst from the beautiful Team Rocket diva. But alas, Jessie wasn't going to give them that pleasure. As she marched out of the door, she never looked back at them.

And then she was gone.

"I have to give her props that she left on a high note," said Gary. "I thought she was going to be a total bitch before she left, and I'm glad she didn't make this an unpleasant exit."

"If only she acted that way during her stay in that game…" Jeri muttered softly. "I would have liked her a lot better."

"So…" Misty grinned as she turned her head to look at Jeri and Gary. "Who is the Mole?"

"I am the Mole," said Gary with a little dainty smirk on his face.

"No, I am the Mole and you know it," giggled Jeri.

"The two of you, stop lying!" Misty wagged her finger at her two teammates, "It's so obvious that I _am_ the Mole!"

"I can't believe one of us is going to emerge as a winner," Jeri said giddily. She was feeling a lot more relaxed now after surviving the execution. 

"It's unbelievable," Gary echoed.

Wearing a huge grin on her face, Misty sprang up from her seat in excitement.

"Rock on! We are the Final Three!"

* * *

Feeling a few snowflakes falling on her head, Jessie looked up at the sky to realize that it was snowing. She stuck out her tongue to taste them, while Yamaki looked on with amusement. It was a side to Jessie that he wasn't used to seeing when she was still in the game. Even underneath all that rough talk and bitchiness, he realized there was a softer and more humane side to Jessie.

"Everybody thought you were going to give some kind of outburst before you left," said Yamaki.

"They might think I'm a bitch and that's fine, but I'm going to leave on my own terms, not based on what their vague impressions are of me," Jessie smiled faintly.

"How does it feel to just miss out in the finals?" Yamaki asked.

"It sucks. I was really hoping that a villain could pull of a victory just for once, just to see the looks on the faces of those squeaky-clean twerps."

"No vile villainous victory?"

"Sometimes, villains may win," Jessie snickered. "But most of the time, they just fall flat on their sorry asses."

"A wise quote to remember," Yamaki laughed.

After bidding a short farewell to Yamaki, the Team Rocket member slowly walked onto the bus. The doors closed and the bus drove away, carrying the seventh Mole victim into the lonely streets of Toronto.****

END OF EXECUTION #7__

Next Episode: ** Guess Who**

It's down to the last stretch for the three remaining players as they complete their final challenges to fill the one million dollar pot. Will the Mole succeed in making the ultimate sabotage?

Author's Note

If you feel familiar with some of the challenges used this episode, you will know that I got inspiration from the Season 1 Mole DVD I got a few weeks ago. Just watching that gives me warm and fuzzy memories of what the real show is about. If you don't have one in your collection yet, get one!

We are down to the Final Three, and even I can feel the excitement leading into the finale! There is one more episode before the grand finale where everything is revealed, and I just can't wait to get started on it. For those of you who are faithful readers, thanks for not losing hope on this project even during its rocky times. It's finally coming to an end!

These are the official poll results of _Who is the Mole_ from Episode 6. The majority thinks it's Misty, but will your opinions waiver after reading this episode?

32 percent – Misty

23 percent – Gary

23 percent – Jeri

21 percent – Jessie

Just for this chapter, there will be a new Mole poll up. Instead of asking who you think is the Mole, I want to know who you want to see win this game, because the winner is just as important as the Mole! So go vote in the Mole Poll for Episode 7!


	8. Episode 8: Guess Who

**The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition**   
By: Gomamon

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

Episode 8 – Guess Who

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon 02) _--- EXECUTED THIRD

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon 01) _--- EXECUTED SIXTH

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED SEVENTH

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon 03) _--- **STILL STANDING**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FIRST

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon 03)_ --- EXECUTED FIFTH

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ --- **STILL STANDING**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FOURTH

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora_ (Digimon 01) _--- EXECUTED SECOND

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon) _--- **STILL STANDING**

* * *

Was it a noise that woke her up in the middle of the night? Jeri didn't know the answer, but after staring blankly at the ceiling for three hours, she knew she wasn't going to fall asleep again. So in a spur-of-the-moment thing, she decided to take an early morning stroll outside. After slipping on her jacket and grabbing a bottle of water, she headed out the door. 

Jeri Katou had never been a very spontaneous person, but the game did shape her in a way. May be the game taught her to be less restraint and more outgoing, perhaps she learned to be less reliant and more independent. After getting into a heated confrontation with Jessie on the fifth day, Jeri learned a lot of things about herself – and other people.

"I honestly don't know who the Mole is. For a while, I thought it was Gary for a while…but looking back, Misty did a lot of suspicious things in the past too. I don't know." Jeri shook her head to the cameraman walking beside her. "I split my answers between Misty and Gary last quiz, and it worked."

Stopping to tie her loose shoelaces, Jeri suddenly spotted a small brown puppy running across the street. The golden retriever seemed to be fond of her, and jumped comfortably into her arms for a warm embrace. Although a little taken back, Jeri smiled a little and carefully placed the dog down.

"Aww, what a cute dog," said Jeri with a tender smile on her face. She gently fondled with the puppy's ears and giggled. The dog owner quickly rushed over and apologized profoundly before disappearing from the cameras.

Continuing her aimless walk to nowhere, the little girl shoved her tiny hands into her pockets. Never a fan of the cameramen, Jeri's gaze had diverted away from the cameras.

"Only three of us are left," said Jeri. "You'd think that the suspicion would die down, but it doesn't. It only grows more intense. There are going to be more accusations and distrust amongst the three of us. Gary is definitely a competitor. Misty could sometimes get very ruthless too."

She turned her head back to the camera, carrying a confused look on her face.

"But I don't know if I have the fire in me. I'm just not ready to play this type of game with lying and backstabbing and all that dirty stuff. Honestly, I just want to take the final quiz and go home. I'm exhausted and homesick. I'm done with this game."

Some might call her a sensitive girl, a sweet girl or even a naïve girl, but Jeri Katou simply did not take pleasure in deceiving or competing with other people. She accepted that it was part of the game, but it didn't mean she have to like it. Jeri simply hated the drama.

But Gary, who strived for drama, had little patience for the young and timid girl. In an earlier confessional, he expressed:

"Jeri should grow more of a backbone. She is a nice girl and I know she means well, but she lets too many people push her around. When I see everybody bully Jeri, I just want to go up and shake her – stop acting like a meek pushover and start standing up for yourself!"

As for Misty, she was much more gracious in her opinion about Jeri.

"I admit that she could be a little more aggressive, but that's just her style. Hey, you can't make me say something mean about Jeri! The girl is sweet like sugar pie."

But no matter what they say – or don't say – about Jeri, she simply didn't care any more. After the harsh confrontations from Jessie, nothing surprised her anymore. The most important thing was that she was at the final stretch. All she wanted to do was finish this game without collapsing from mental stress.

Flashbacks of the past few days quickly played over her head like a slideshow. She could remember seeing her name on the cue card in the silent auction, and not to mention the amount of tears she cried on the following night. She also remembered watching her friends Takato and Kazu come and go in a blink of an eye, quickly followed by Kenta's execution. There were also the numerous glaring contests with Jessie, and all the times the Team Rocket diva would successfully intimidate her to look away.

Jeri was slowly shaking her head in an apologetic manner. She suddenly stopped walking and shot an evasive glance at the cameras before looking away indecisively.

In a soft voice, she muttered,

"I don't want to play anymore…"

* * *

When Jeri entered the house again, both Gary and Misty were already awake and preparing breakfast. As always, the friendly Cerulean gym leader politely greeted the little girl as she made her entrance into the dining room. Gary, on the other hand, only made a husky grunt when he saw the girl. His alert eyes followed Jeri's every movement as she took a seat between him and Misty. 

"Gary is acting really weird lately, because most of the time I find him staring at me," said Jeri in a confessional. "He is watching me all the time. It's actually kind of creepy."

With his chin rested on his hands, Gary continued to watch both Misty and Jeri very closely under his careful eye. Misty coughed softly, as his constant staring made her feel very uncomfortable. She finally got up and headed toward the refrigerator to grab a pop – and to escape from Gary's wrath.

"I feel like I'm under a magnifying glass," confessed Misty. "But I got to tell you, Gary is stepping his game up a notch. He is a kick-ass competitor."

After breakfast finished, Yamaki and Riley entered the dining room, carrying two gigantic cardboard boxes in their hands. The players curiously got out of their seats in preparation for their challenge.

"Good morning, players." Yamaki greeted them with the usual ominous smirk. He and Riley gently placed the boxes on the dining table. The word "mouse" is written in big capital letters on both boxes with a blue marker. Jeri and Misty both exchanged worried glances as they saw the title, fearing what the boxes may contain.

"There aren't any mice inside there by any chance, right?" Jeri nervously asked.

"No, there aren't any mice inside these boxes…" The blonde host grinned mischievously. "Or are there?" Jeri whimpered.

"Oh, shut up! He's teasing you guys. There aren't any mice," laughed Riley, giving a thumbs-up to the rest of the players. Misty leered inside one of the boxes, and she was relieved to find that it only contained two regular dice and four children's building blocks.

In the other cardboard box, there was a bottle of whipped cream, a hockey puck and a grey teapot…but the thing that captivated the most attention was a puzzling purple item. As Yamaki picked the tiny object up, all the players were fascinated by the uniqueness of it. Shaped like a cube, there was a mini door handle on one of its six sides. A numerical keypad beside the handle, and there was a small key hole below it.

"It looks like a Gamecube," remarked Gary.

"It's actually a portable safe box. People put their valuables in there so things don't get stolen," Yamaki explained. "For today's challenge, you will be trying to open this safe box. If you can open it in half an hour, you will add $70,000 into the pot."

Yamaki put the safe box on the dining table, and Gary immediately picked it up to study it. It was concrete solid and probably couldn't be opened from brute physical force. _Perhaps it could be destroyed with the use of a drill or some similar power tool…_ Gary thought, his mind already buzzing with ideas and thoughts of solving this challenge.

"The only catch is that you can not break the safe box. It must stay in the mint condition that it is in right now," said Yamaki, interrupting Gary's thoughts. "So no throwing it at the wall and trying to break it open. It doesn't work that way."

"Oh shoot," chuckled Misty, snapping her fingers. "That was my first plan."

"You need to use the objects in these two boxes and try to figure out a method to open the box," continued the host. "I know some of these objects may look like they have nothing in common, but there is a connection if you look really closely."

"All we need to do is open the safe box and we'll win $70,000?" Gary asked.

"That's the challenge for today," replied Yamaki. "If there are no more questions…the challenge starts now!"

As the clock started ticking, Gary wasted no time by removing all the items out of the two boxes and placing them on the table for a closer examination. He put the boxes under the table aside after he was done.

There was a bottle of whipped cream, sealed and still with a small price tag label on it; four children's building blocks, each with a different capital letter on it; a round black hockey puck; two regular dice with six sides, and a small grey teapot.

"We are supposed to use these items to open the safe box?" Jeri looked at these items with a raised eyebrow. "That's impossible…"

"Well, there must be a connection between these five items." Gary rubbed his chin as he examined the texture of the hockey puck. "If we can identify the theme, we will know the solution."

"Easier said than done," argued Misty. She wasn't annoyed, but she just didn't like wasting time. As far as she was concerned, they were making little progress.

"Is there any tea in the teapot?" Jeri asked. She took the glass-made teapot and shook it gently, placing the teapot close by her ear. "Yeah, there's some tea inside."

"How do you know it's tea and not just water?" Gary questioned suspiciously. "Don't jump to conclusions like that."

"Oh gee, sorry." Jeri meekly replied back, putting the teapot down.

Gary narrowed his eyes at the little brown haired girl. He was watching her movements with even more consciousness and suspicion than before.

_She's up to something._ He thought.

In fact, he was following Jeri's movements so closely and carefully that he didn't realize he was pushing the teapot to the edge of the table with his hand. When he finally regained awareness, he stumbled around with his fingers and the teapot dropped to the ground, shattering into pieces.

"Shit!" He exclaimed. "Watch out, don't step on any glass on the floor!"

"Are you okay, Gary?" Misty shot a quick sympathetic glance at the professor. As much as she was worried about the challenge, her priorities never changed.

"Yeah," Gary grunted. He quickly grabbed a broom from the closet and swept the pieces aside. Misty assisted him, and they managed to remove all the glass pieces from the floor. They weren't certain they found all of the pieces, but they had no time to spare.

Gary grumbled something angry under his breath. He was extremely critical about this accident of course, since the young professor was normally a very careful person. He prided himself in being always careful with everything. Mistakes, especially stupid mistakes, bothered him the most.

To redeem from his mistake, Gary suggested putting the teapot together again, but Misty argued that they could not waste their time in an unproductive project.

"There are other things to focus on. We've to look at the bigger picture," said the gym leader.

Misty was playing around with the four building blocks, moving them around the table as she tried to build a four lettered word. She figured that the clue might be hidden in the blocks. She moved the red block, which contained the letter "C", to the right of the green block, which contained the letter "I".

"Cine?" Misty asked herself as she read the assembled word. "Uh…what's that?"

"I think the word is supposed to be 'nice'," said Jeri, as she shifted the "N" block and the "C" block around.

"Oh yeah! I see it now." Misty grinned. "Thanks Jeri, you're a doll."

"What does it mean though?" Gary asked, "If that's supposed to spell out a clue, it's not a very explicit one."

"I don't know, I don't know…" Misty put both of her hands on the table. She closed her eyes and tried to think. "There must be a connection of nice with the other items."

"You know, nice…dice…they both end with the suffix –ice," said Jeri. "I don't know if it means anything though."

Gary's eyes shot up in alert. For a moment, it seemed like her suggestion sparkled up a twinkle of idea or thought, but whatever the thought was, he lost it after a second.

"No, it can't be," replied Gary. "None of the other items end with it."

"Come on, smart guy." Misty slapped a hand on Gary's back and teased playfully. "This puzzle thing is your specialty here! You should've solved it in a jiff!"

"I know. I'm not meeting to my own expectations," Gary let out a small sigh and shook his head. "I can't concentrate today."

"Come on, Gary…you can do it." Jeri smiled optimistically, clapping her hands together.

"Yeah, Gary. You can do it…" Misty added, slowly raising her voice. She also started to clap, in a more rhythmic manner. "Gary, Gary, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!"

A sheepish smile appeared on Gary's face, but Misty only got louder in her cheering and clapping. Jeri soon joined in.

"Gary, Gary, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!"

"Oh spare me please," chuckled Gary.

"Gary, Gary, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!"

"Ha! I can't believe you still remember that stupid cheer," Gary shook his head, wearing a big wide grin on his face. He laughed, "What is this, my own cheerleading squad?"

"We'll be your cheerleaders if you can solve this challenge," Misty winked.

"You can do it, Gary!" Jeri squealed.

"Alright, let's see what we can do here…" Gary picked up the bottle of whipped cream in one hand, and the hockey puck in the other.

Misty sneaked a glance at the professor as he continued to study the objects. She remembered a confessional she recorded this morning about the soon-to-be professor.

"You know…Gary is not that bad, most of the time. I've been pretty mean about him in my confessionals before, but…I've misjudged him, I think."

Misty flashed a friendly and genuine smile at the cameras, and although she could get quite competitive and fierce at times, the Cerulean gym leader also had a softer side to her as well.

"All he needs is a little encouragement and somebody to stroke his ego. He does have his moments, but he's usually an okay guy. He's a good guy."

Misty paused for a second, with her index finger pressing on her chin. Finally, she couldn't resist adding one more sentence.

"Too bad he's the Mole."

* * *

Twenty five minutes passed in the challenge. And the players still had no idea what they were doing. 

"May be there's another way of opening it. There is a trapdoor something in this safe box." suggested Misty. She slid her finger along all the edges of the tiny purple safe box. Convinced that the answer was somewhere in the safe box, she had been spending the last ten minutes examining it and typing in random passwords in the numerical keypad.

"Why don't we look at the shape of these items?" Jeri suggested, bringing up the cubic shape of the dice and the building blocks. "They are both cubes."

"Yeah, but none of the other items are cubes," Gary reasoned. He picked up the whipped cream bottle. "This and the puck are both cylinders, not cubes."

"Yeah, that can't be the connection…" said Jeri dejectedly. She put the dice down on the table again and moved on to another object.

"What if this isn't a hockey puck? What if this is a disc?" Gary suggested, as he waved around the black puck with his hand.

"Which brings us to…?" Misty looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"…I don't know." Gary sighed and dropped his head. This challenge was a lot tougher than he imagined.

"Hey guys," said Jeri. "I'm still wondering why the word "mouse" is written on the cardboard boxes…remember?"

"I've been wondering about that too," Gary nodded. "I haven't come to a conclusion yet, but my theory is that they just couldn't find any boxes to put stuff in."

"No, everything is there for a reason," said Jeri. She grabbed one of the boxes from the table. "Why is the word 'mouse' written on it?"

"Does it have something do with the colour?" Misty asked, circling the blue ink with her finger.

"It looks like a woman's writing. May be Riley wrote it," Gary continued the thought. "May be we have to get a message from Riley?"

"I bet that's it!" Jeri nodded her head excitedly. "I think we can get the password from Riley."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's find her!" Gary hopped out of his seat and ran to the door, soon followed by the ladies. Riley, their purple-haired bus driver, was usually found relaxing in the bus during their off-time.

They raced outside and located the bus, which was parked by the driveway of the house. Indeed, Riley was sitting in the bus, reading a magazine with a picture of Beethoven on the cover. Sitting beside her was Yamaki, whispering something into Riley's ear.

"There she is! We can ask her." Misty pointed her finger at her silhouette through the window.

The three players soon climbed onto the bus and surprised the host and the bus driver with their presence. Yamaki jerked up and immediately stiffened as he saw the players arrived.

"Hey kids, what's up?" Riley waved casually.

"Riley, we think you have the key or the password to the safe box or whatever it is," Misty explained. "And we'd like to have it."

Riley gave the players a strange look and then glanced at the host, who was smirking. Finally, she turned back to look at the players, with a sad smile on her face.

"I'm sorry; I don't know what you are talking about."

"Damn it. We were following in the wrong lead," muttered Gary.

"Just as well," Yamaki spoke up. "Time is up. The challenge is over, and you haven't managed to open the safe box in the allotted time. You failed the challenge and $70,000 will not be added to the pot."

POT: $408,000/$900,000

Yamaki led the way back to the house, carrying the permanent smirk on his face. The disappointed group of players followed behind him, feeling quite bad about their loss. But the truth was that they haven't got a clue what to do in this challenge. They didn't even come close.

"I'm going to feel so stupid when I find out how to do it," joked Misty. "I'll be like the biggest idiot in the world."

The four of them marched toward the dining table, where the items, plus the broken teapot, were located.

"At the beginning of the challenge," said Yamaki, "I said there was a connection between these items. I wasn't lying. But obviously you haven't been paying enough attention."

Gary crossed his arms, quietly watching Yamaki's demonstration as he leant back on a wall.

"I delivered these items to you through two different cardboard boxes when I could have put it into one. There were several reasons for that. The main reason was that these items were in two different groups. If you look at all of the items together, you'll never find a connection. But if you look at it separately, you might just find the answer."

Yamaki took his hand and moved the items to the left and the right of the table. He moved the bottle of whipped cream, the hockey puck and the remaining pieces of the teapot to the right, while moving the building blocks and the dice to the left.

"When you look at this," Yamaki held up the hockey puck, "What do you first think of?"

"Puck," replied Gary.

"Nope, try again."

"Hockey?" Jeri guessed.

"Good. Now what do you first think of when you look at whipped cream?"

"Cream."

"And the teapot?"

"Tea."

"That's right. And what does hockey, cream and tea all have in common?" Yamaki asked.

Misty scratched her head as she pondered over it. She still had no idea. Gary and Jeri both looked equally confused.

"Okay, we'll get back to that. If you look at the other items then," Yamaki continued as he pointed at the objects to the left side of the table. "You have two dice, four building blocks that spell out nice, and two cardboard boxes with the word "mouse" written on it…do you see a connection?"

"Mice," Gary immediately called out. "I get it now. Ugh, I can't believe I didn't see this earlier!"

"Huh?" The two girls responded together.

"Since there is more than one cardboard box," Gary explained, "There must be more than one mouse. And what's the plural form for mouse?"

"Oh my gosh," Jeri gasped, dropping her jaw in surprise. "Mice. It's mice!"

"Dice, mice, nice…" Misty repeated, finally catching on. "They all end in the suffix –ice."

"And not only that…" Gary snapped his fingers. He was speaking as if he could visualize everything together in his head. Everything was chaining up already. "The word "ice" can also be used as a prefix as well! Ice cream, ice hockey, ice tea…"

"Cream – ice cream. Hockey – ice hockey. Tea – ice tea," Misty explained. "Oh, I feel so stupid now."

"The key word is ice," mumbled Jeri. Her head is trying to process all this information. "It's ice…"

"One more thing that you haven't truly noticed is the shape of these items," said Yamaki. "What shape are the dice? The blocks? The cardboard boxes?"

"They're all cubes," answered Gary. He knew it now. He knew everything now.

"Exactly, and if you put the two words together – ice and cubes. You'll get ice cubes. And where can you find ice cubes in this house?"

Misty didn't even wait for an answer. She marched toward the fridge and opened the door. Resting peacefully, there it was – an ice cube. The gym leader slowly took the ice cube out of the fridge.

"Take a look at it, everyone…" Misty gestured her fellow players to come over for a closer examination at the ice cube.

Inside that ice cube was a tiny golden key frozen inside. It was the key that would have unlocked the safe box. It was _the _key.

The players all stared at the ice cube for a moment together, sharing a thrilled silence between them. Exposed to the heat for only several seconds, the ice cube already melted in Misty's hand, and all that was left was a golden key.

"This is brilliant, Yamaki. Bravo," chuckled Gary, breaking the ice.

"We might as well open the safe box," said Misty.

She used the key to unlock the safe box, and the players were all surprised to find what's inside the tiny intriguing box. May be they were expecting a sum of money, or may be they were even expecting a check with $70,000. But instead, they found a note with two ominous words written on it:

Love, Mole.

* * *

Gary Oak was certain he knew who the Mole was. He watched her shady movements for the entire game. He watched her sabotage challenges after challenges. And after today's loss, he was one hundred percent positive that he _knew._

He glanced at Jeri Katou, staring out the window again as she reflected about their loss in today's challenge. Like always, she was pondering over the events of the challenge, wondering where they went wrong and lost the challenge. He then turned to eye Misty, who was scribbling something in her journal, already putting the loss aside for the better sake of the game. In a way, the feisty gym leader was very different from the meek little girl.

"Misty doesn't sulk over her losses. That girl was born to _move on._" commented Gary in a confessional.

Gary had kept a very close eye at the water trainer throughout the entire game. There was an intriguing aura about her that captivated his attention since the very beginning.

"I can't figure out what Misty is thinking. She wore her game face since the first day of this game…it's unreadable. And if you ask me, she's doing a very good job at concealing herself. I find myself always asking, just who _is_ Misty Waterflower?"

A simple answer would have been that Misty just didn't have a very exciting personality. That, to a degree, was true. But Gary knew that there was something deeper to the gym leader. If he could look past her constant mood swings, her constant friendliness, her constant competitiveness…he could sense a very conflicted girl inside Misty Waterflower.

"Misty kept a very strong barrier around herself. She didn't let anybody get close to her at all. I know that Yolei tried to befriend her, but it was useless. Misty doesn't trust anyone because she has a big secret to hide."

The young professor sat back in her armchair, quietly staring at the gym leader with fascination. To him, Misty was a mystery.

And Gary Oak loved mysteries.

"She isn't the feisty tomboy. She isn't the compassionate girl-next-door. She isn't the aggressive competitor. She isn't the optimistic big sister. Misty's role in this game is only one-of-a-kind."

Gary smirked impishly at the cameras, rubbing his chin.

"Simply put, Misty is the Mole."

That was a fact, as far as Gary was concerned. Misty was the Mole, one hundred percent. But knowing who the Mole was only half of his plan, because there was still one more problem he had to take care of before he could claim his victory.

He shot a quick shifty glance at Jeri Katou, still sitting by the window, staring out at the clouds and the sky with a dreamy and somewhat oblivious gaze.

It was only a matter of making sure his competitor _didn't_ know.

* * *

Misty decided that she wanted to celebrate the last day of the game with Jeri Katou. So this afternoon, she invited Jeri for a lunch in a posh restaurant. It was just a casual friendly lunch between two friends. Misty had intended to ask Gary to come along, but Jeri strongly opposed the idea. 

"I don't like him staring at me all the time, it's creepy," she explained.

"I know! I thought only I noticed it!" Misty laughed, nodding her head in agreement.

"Misty is someone I look up to all the time," Jeri beamed at the cameras in a confessional. "She is confident, friendly and most importantly, a very loving person with an open heart. When I grow up, I want to be just like her."

Misty studied the menu, running her finger down the list of choices. Jeri sat across from her, reading a poster on the wall that featured a Dracula theatre show in the community.

"Hey, feel free to order whatever you want. Lunch is on me," Misty winked at Jeri.

"I don't know. Just make an order for me. I trust your tastes," Jeri smiled.

"Okay, but don't blame me if I ordered you some snail brains," giggled Misty.

"Oh my gosh. They serve snail brains here?"

"No, silly! I'm just kidding!"

"Don't do that!" Jeri made a mock angry face as Misty laughed. "I was about to dash out of the restaurant when I heard that!"

As their meal progressed, their conversations grew more and more casual. It was in both of their intentions that they wouldn't talk about strategy or anything game related. This lunch, as Misty put it, was a break from the tension of the game.

"You know…sometimes, I think everyone in the world is insane except for me. Then I'm like, 'who cares?' And then later, I go...'hmm, what's for dinner?'"

Misty tried her best to maintain a serious face, but eventually both girls started to erupt in giggles.

"Misty, this is going to sound mushy and stuff, but…" Jeri finally regained her composure, "I'm really glad you are in the finals with me."

"Ditto that," echoed Misty.

"If I couldn't win the money, I'd really like you to win it," Jeri continued. "You deserve it. You really do."

"Aww, Jeri. You're a sweetheart." Misty got off her seat and went to gave Jeri a huge bug. "Thank you. That means a lot to me. But remember, Jeri…that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you either. Just because I like you, this is still a competition."

Misty and Jeri exchanged shifty glances at each other. An awkward silence suddenly passed by.

The game was on again.

* * *

The moment Gary stepped into the SkyDome; he knew it was an impressive piece of architecture. Placed beside the CN Tower, it was hard for any building nearby not to meet a certain standard. 

"This is Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome," said Yamaki. "Regularly this is a stadium used to play many memorable baseball and football games. But for this afternoon, this place will be where your final challenge is held."

"We don't get the house often for challenges. But when we do, it's usually something very big," Gary grinned. The little boy in him made it hard for him not to be excited.

"It has a retractable roof too," Yamaki pointed up. The two girls stared up in awe.

"Now if only I had some tickets to a game with the Blue Jays or the Argonauts, this trip would be complete." The young professor chuckled.

"You are standing in front of a gigantic triangular maze, full of many twists and dead ends," said Yamaki. "Each of you will be at a different entrance of the maze, the objective is to go in, retrieve an item and leave the maze before time runs out."

Yamaki then handed each player a key. Gary received a gold key, Misty received a silver key and Jeri received a bronze key. They were instructed to place the keys in a safe spot.

"In the centre of the maze, there will be a briefcase. In order to unlock the briefcase, you must use all three keys. So this means everybody has to arrive at the centre before you can unlock the briefcase. The briefcase will contain the instructions to the second half of the challenge."

Misty nodded and decided to keep her key around her neck as a necklace. She certainly didn't want to lose such a valuable key.

"If you can complete this challenge in less than an hour, you will add $100,000 into the pot."

"Whoa." Jeri's jaw dropped. "That's the biggest sum of money we've ever played for."

"That's right. The stakes are being raised. It's not called the final challenge for nothing, you know."

"Higher stakes…I love it!" Misty rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

"The last touch before I send you to your corners of the maze…pick one person to 'see no evil', one person to 'hear no evil' and one person to 'speak no evil'."

"I'll speak no evil," Misty raised her hand to volunteer.

"Gary should definitely see no evil. It suits him," suggested Jeri. Both she and Misty giggled. Gary only gave them a funny confused face.

"Sure, I'll see no evil." Gary shrugged. He really didn't mind either way.

"And I'll hear no evil," confirmed Jeri, still giggling.

"Okay, great. That was easy." Yamaki slyly smirked. "Because before going into the maze, you will lose one of your five senses. For Juri, you will hear no evil…"

Yamaki pulled out a MP3 player from his suit pocket and handed it over to Jeri and also gave Gary a red blindfold.

"You know what to do with it," said Yamaki. "As for you, Miss Waterflower…"

Yamaki pulled out a roll of masking tape. Misty dropped her head and laughed nervously.

"You aren't really going to tape..."

"Sorry, Kasumi. It's just part of the game," said Yamaki, with a smirk. He gently placed a thick layer of masking tape over Jeri's mouth. Jeri muffled something unintelligible as a response.

"How many fingers am I holding, Shigeru?"

Gary shrugged. Yamaki walked over to make sure the red blindfold around his eyes was properly put on. He then walked over to Jeri, who was listening to some catchy music on her MP3 player.

"Juri, can you hear me?"

Jeri turned her head to Yamaki, but scrunched up her eyebrows.

"What?"

"Can you hear me?"

"What? I can't hear you! The music is too loud!"

"Good," Yamaki smiled. "We can start this challenge. One of you lost your vision, one of you lost your hearing and one of you lost your ability to communicate with the other players."

"Going into this maze suddenly got a lot harder," said Gary. Misty muffled something in agreement.

Soon, Yamaki led the players to their starting points at the maze. At a gun signal, the players disappeared inside the maze. Or in Jeri's case, it was a friendly tap on the shoulder from Yamaki.

For Gary, who lost his vision throughout this challenge, navigating the maze was the most difficult part. He had to move his hands to feel the walls in order to walk, taking very tiny tiptoe steps along the way. A minute into the challenge, and he realized that this wasn't going to work. His lack of progress was very discouraging.

"I can't see anything, and I need one of you to come help me! Can either of you hear me?" He yelled. Luckily, the walls weren't soundproof, so they should be able to hear his request for help.

If they could hear.

He sighed. Misty could probably recognize his voice, but there was no way for her to respond back.

"I'm right here! I can't see anything! Can either of you hear me?" He yelled and then sighed. It was no use. Misty couldn't respond back. Jeri couldn't even hear her. He had to rely on his own senses and feel his way around the maze, however impossible it might be.

Gary took one confident step forward.

And he walked right into a wall.

* * *

Misty heard Gary's calls for help, even though she could not have responded back. She figured that a detour to search for the blind Gary would be better for the long run. And then afterwards, both of them could run and find the briefcase. 

But before that plan could be executed, she had to locate Gary. And she didn't have the foggiest clue of where to find it. She came across her first crossroads. Should she run to the left route or the right route?

_Ah, what the heck._ Misty ran to the left and hoped for the best.

At another end of the maze, Jeri Katou was facing similar obstacles. The walls of the maze were too high for her to peek or even climb over. So she will just have to navigate through this maze the old fashioned way.

"This maze is huuuuuge! But that's pretty obvious, since they play baseball and football in here and stuff," giggled Jeri.

She turned to the right of the maze and encountered a dead end. Groaning a bit, she turned back and ran the other way. She was hardly an athlete and all this running would quickly tire her out very soon.

Meanwhile Gary is still feeling his way around the maze, as he got his fair share of bumps and accidents as well. He tried his best to visualize the maze and where he was going, but it was no luck.

"I'd be furious if I happened to be at a dead end," he joked to the cameramen.

Every now and then, Gary would yell for help. He was yelling to Misty, but he never truly knew if she heard his messages or not. But it didn't matter, finding Misty was the only way he could make it out of this maze.

"I mean, this challenge is very easy for the Mole to sabotage it," he told the cameras. "Or anyone else for that matter. If one person doesn't show up with the key, then none of us can win the challenge."

He shook his head, sighing.

"And the worst part is, I couldn't even keep my eye on those two sneaky girls. Who knows what they are up to?"

He continued to slide his fingers across the wall and walked slowly and aimlessly in the maze. He had no idea if he was heading in the wrong direction or if he was making any progress at all. Losing his vision made a devastating impact in the challenge. All he could hope now was that either Misty or Jeri would locate him before the challenge ended.

But Jeri Katou wasn't having much luck in the maze either. Even though she could see where she was going, she was getting slightly frustrated with all the dead ends she encountered.

Jeri walked slowly in the field, trying to find her way around this maze. She was wincing at every step she took because of her aching ankle. The little girl made a left turn and almost fell on the floor in exhaustion when she saw that it was yet another dead end.

"I think I've came here before," Jeri muttered when she recognized a marking on the wall. "I've been walking around in circles."

Jeri sank down onto the floor and sat down. She needed to take a break before continuing this challenge. Her heart wanted to finish this maze, but her feet were singing with a different tune. Jeri leaned against the wall, took off her shoes and gently massaged her ankle with her fingers.

"Getting lost is the worst feeling ever…" Jeri told the cameras. "You have no aim, no direction and basically nothing. All you could rely on is your gut instinct."

As if the physical aspects of this game weren't enough, the mental stress was also sinking into her body. Her head was pounding like crazy; she was too dizzy to concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds. Her lack of sleep from last night was also starting to kick in. She wore her whole body out and it was collapsing right in front of her.

Jeri closed her eyes. And very quickly, she drifted off into sleep…

* * *

Misty did not stop running in the maze. She ran left, right, and who knows how many dead ends she encountered. But the many failures in the challenge did not discourage the athletic gym leader from trying. She continued to keep up with her usual pace, knowing that she will eventually find the briefcase. 

If there was one thing you could say about the perky water trainer, she was definitely _not_ a quitter.

She wondered if Gary or Jeri had already found the briefcase. She figured that Gary probably wouldn't be able to make it around the maze that quickly. But it was a likely possibility that Jeri had already arrived and located the briefcase.

_No, Jeri wouldn't let us down. _Misty beamed as she thought to herself. She started to pick up her pace around the maze.

Misty continued to run straight in this narrowly straight alley. She almost ran by an opening to the left, but she ran back to take a look at it. And if her eyes weren't deceiving her, then she thought she could see a black briefcase resting on a table from a distance.

_That must be it!_ Misty silently raised celebrated in triumph. She turned left and ran all the way to the briefcase, embracing it with open arms.

She looked around, expecting to see at least one of her teammates. But there was nobody around. Misty picked up the briefcase and inserted her key and managed to open the first vault. But in order for the briefcase to open, she needed two more keys from her team members.

Misty tapped her fingers on the briefcase, unsure of what to do in this situation. She could wait here and hope for the best that both Gary and Jeri stumble their ways here, or she could take initiative and go out in the maze and find them. Misty was not a patient person, but she also understood that if she wandered off in the maze again, she might get lost and not find her way back here.

But it was a risk Misty was willing to take. She wasn't about to just stand here and let the others decide her fate. She started to jog away, hoping to find where Gary or Jeri was and lead them back here.

Meanwhile, Gary Oak was still lost in the maze, but one could hardly blame him for his lack of direction. He was getting better at not walking into walls or hitting into an edge or anything, but he kept thinking that he was walking around in circles throughout.

"If only I could see, I would probably do a lot better in this challenge," he had told the cameras. "I don't know if I would be able to find it, but I'd probably make lot more progress than if I was blindfolded."

Gary took another step forward, cautiously extending his hands forward into midair to see if there were any walls ahead. When he realized there were none, he walked another giant step.

"Misty and Jeri have no excuse of not finding the briefcase by now. They could see and they could walk. In fact, they should probably start looking for me too!"

After making sure the path ahead was free of walls, Gary took another step forward. He tripped however and collapsed onto the ground. The young professor groaned as he tried to stand up from his painful fall.

"Gary?"

Jeri immediately woke up from her slumber. When she realized that Gary had tripped over her feet on the floor, she helped him get up from the ground.

"Are you alright?" She asked with genuine concern in her voice.

"Yeah. Jeri, what are you doing here?" Gary asked. He brushed some sand off his pants.

"What? I can't hear you. The music is really loud," replied Jeri.

"Oh yeah, now I remember." Gary nodded his head.

"Anyway, we need to find the briefcase. I'm lost in the maze," said Jeri. Gary nodded his head and mouthed the words "Me too" to her.

Jeri took Gary by the hand and led him around the maze. She felt a little better and restored after resting for a few minutes in the challenge. Gary felt much better now that he found someone to guide him through the maze, confident that they would be able to locate the briefcase. Jeri was less than confident, unsure that she would be able to find her way around the maze.

The pair walked around the maze. Jeri turned her head to look at any hidden passages, but could find nothing. Even with the addition of blind Gary, she still didn't have much luck getting around in this maze.

But she was fortunate enough that a savior came to her rescue. Misty Waterflower lit up her face when she saw her two teammates. She gave Jeri a huge hug.

"Do you know where the briefcase is?" Jeri asked Misty.

The Cerulean gym leader nodded her head and gestured the two teammates to follow her. She knew the passage back to the briefcase by heart. Inside, Misty was ecstatic to finally reunite with Jeri and Gary.

_I never thought I would be this happy to see Gary._ She joked to herself inside her head.

In minutes, Misty led them to where the briefcase was. It was a longer walk than both Jeri and Gary anticipated as they made many turns and shifts. There was a moment when Gary doubted Misty's ability to lead them at the right direction, but eventually the Cerulean gym leader finally found them.

Both Gary and Jeri inserted their keys into the briefcase, unlocking the second and third vaults. With all three of the vaults undone, they were able to unlock the briefcase and retrieve instructions to the second part of the challenge.

Inside the briefcase, there was a small digital alarm clock with "5:50" on it. There was also an orange sheet of paper, which Jeri picked up and read out loud:

"You've added $50,000 into the pot, congratulations. In order to add the second half of the money, one of you must take the alarm clock and make it outside of the maze before the time on the clock runs out. When it reaches to 0:00, the challenge will stop. Make sure you get one player out of this maze with this alarm clock before time runs out!"

"Who wants to do it?" Gary asked.

Misty raised her hand, eager to continue with the rest of the challenge.

"Yeah, Misty should do it," said Jeri.

"Couldn't Jeri do it instead?" Gary asked, with suspicion in her voice. He didn't trust Misty to win this challenge for them at all.

But his concerns weren't addressed to, because Jeri handed the alarm clock to Misty. The gym leader nodded her head and dashed off into the distance. There were three exits to this triangular maze. All she needed to do was to retrace her steps from where she started the challenge.

But could she remember?

Misty took a short and quick glance at the alarm clock she was holding. She only had five minutes to get out of the maze. It was solely a challenge between Misty Waterflower and the time.

Gary Oak had a bad feeling letting Misty take control of the second part of the challenge. True, she might be more athletic and yes, she did find the maze before either of them…but there was still some doubtfulness in his mind. Misty could easily pretend to get lost and sabotage the challenge. She could pretty much turn the corner and _stand_ there until the time runs out, and they could do nothing about it.

"We are at the mercy of the Mole now," mumbled Gary.

Misty Waterflower ran and ran, turning between corners and making swift movements everywhere around the maze. She had the alarm clock tightly wrapped in her hand, with only three minutes left in the clock.

_Left…then another left. And a right. _Misty thought over the directions she took coming into the maze, except that she had to reverse all of the directions going back.

Misty dashed straight forward after making a quick left turn. She didn't pause for a catch of breath or anything. She was just running frantically, trying to find her way out of this maze before time. Soon she hit into another crossroads.

Wait, was I supposed to turn left or right?

She stalled for a few seconds here, debating whether or not she should turn right or left. At this moment, her memory was failing her. And it couldn't happen at a worse time than this.

_Left._ Misty decided in her head and ran in the path to her left. _It has to be left. It has to be._

Misty made a sharp left turn and ran forward with an outstanding speed. She took a quick glance at the alarm clock that she was holding.

There were two minutes left in the challenge.

Misty nervously looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Have she made the wrong move? If she turned back now, she might be able to find the other exit…but not giving up on her initial instinct, Misty continued to run straight ahead…

She saw a light from a faraway distance, and Misty started to smile, because she knew she found the exit. The wide opening was only steps in front of her, waiting for Misty to cross over the finish line. As the Cerulean gym leader ran with all her might to exit the maze, she lost her footing in a small hole on the ground. She stumbled around a bit, but eventually tripped and fell to the ground. The alarm clock flew a few feet away from her, out of her arm's reach.

Misty groaned as she hastily got up. She took a quick look at her scraped knees and felt nauseous when she saw that blood was coming out. Nevertheless, she stumbled slowly toward the exit and picked up the alarm clock. There was one minute left.

Aching in every step she took, Misty saw that the exit was only five or six steps away. But with her injured leg, her pace slowed down significantly and the fate of this challenge was now put into question. It was up to Misty now to determine whether they will have a victory or a loss.

She dragged her left foot forward, and although the blood was slowly and painfully trickling from her knee to her ankle, Misty Waterflower was not about to forfeit this challenge. Not when the exit was only mere steps ahead! It would have broken her soul, her heart, her competitiveness to _not_ win this challenge. It would have been impossible for her to give up now; she simply wasn't that type of person.

Misty took another hasty look at the clock, which indicated that she had only forty-five seconds left to get out of this maze. The feisty Cerulean gym leader decided that she could not stretch this challenge any longer. Despite the overbearing pain across her entire body, she made a quick sprint to the exit.

It must have taken her at least four or five aching steps to make it out of the maze. But at last she had done it. Underneath the thick layers of tape, Misty wore a wide and bright grin on her face. If her legs hadn't been so badly wounded, she would have run up to Yamaki and gave him an enormous hug. Doctors immediately approached Misty to give her the necessary treatment on her knee, but all this passed by without Misty noticing it much. At the corner of her eye, Misty could see Yamaki slowly nodding his head at her, while giving her a small smile of approval. Soon, Gary and Jeri were also escorted out of the maze, both celebrating and cheering happily for her victory.

She had done it. Misty Waterflower had won the final challenge.

* * *

Yamaki was standing inside the rotating restaurant in the CN Tower. The three finalists were all enjoying their last execution dinner together before the final quiz held tonight. 

"The place where we held our first execution quiz will also be the place where we will hold our last execution quiz," said Yamaki darkly. The three players all looked at him seriously, but none of them said anything.

Despite Misty's triumphant victory, the atmosphere was not pleasant. Gary often made shifty glances to both Jeri and Misty, as if there was something on his mind that he couldn't say out loud. Misty had her head down to her plate at all times, not daring to look up to either of the players. Jeri was gazing dreamily out of the windows again, staring as the evening sun set down.

"Congratulations in succeeding the final challenge. You've added a whooping $100,000 to the pot, making the final standings $508,000 out of a possible one million dollars."

POT: $508,000/$1,000,000

"Awesome," grinned Misty. She weakly gave a high-five to Jeri.

"After tonight, one of you will walk out of this game with $508,000 richer," said Yamaki.

"Wow." Gary mumbled mechanically, putting a spoon of mashed potatoes in his mouth.

"The final quiz, consisting twenty questions about the entire course of the game, will be held after dinner. For the last time, good luck to all of you."

Yamaki left the three finalists to complete their dinner. All was silent for several minutes as the players pondered over their thoughts.

The atmosphere between the players loosened up a bit as they held several light and casual conversations. Gary was particularly interested with what everyone was going to do with their winnings.

"One of us is going to win over half a million dollars. That's a lot of money," said Gary. "I'd like to know that at least one of us will put it into good use."

"I'd definitely use the money to renovate the Cerulean gym. Stop all the pool leaks, inspect all the water Pokemon…it will be a total makeover of the gym." replied Misty. "Plus, it would definitely make ends meet easier for my sister and me if I had the money. No more mermaid shows!"

"Tracey told me about those mermaid shows, I've heard they are quite popular!" Jeri giggled.

"Yeah, popular with the male demographic," Misty laughed. "I'm just kidding. So what are you going to use the money for, Jeri?"

"If I win, I'll use the money to help out my family," said Jeri in a vague but sweet voice. "My parents wouldn't need to worry about my tuitions or my brother's either. It breaks my heart to see them work so hard every single day for us, so I really think this money may help them retire a little earlier and not work as much. But I dunno…" She grinned, "Dad might not like it because he is a workaholic."

"I respect you for putting your family first," said Gary quietly. "That's very gracious of you."

"Thanks Gary," smiled Jeri, although a little taken back at the sincerity of the young professor's remark.

"I'm going to use money is going to aid me in my studies," said Gary. "As you know, I want to be a future Pokemon professor just like my gramps. The winnings could pretty much cover all my tuition fees when I go to one of the most protégé universities in the Pokemon world. My gramps was going to support me financially, but he's an old man, and I really don't want him to fuss over stuff like this."

"Oh!" Misty gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "You certainly don't mean _the_ university! I read it before in a magazine and it's absolutely magnificent."

"It's the one," Gary nodded his head, leaning back in his chair and feeling quite proud as he talked about himself. "The competition is tough, but I'm willing to put all the work into earning a degree."

"Hey, you never know." Jeri smiled. "You might even be more famous than Professor Oak someday."

When desert was served, the three of them also received a packet of photos, each containing a picture of the most memorable scenes in the game, as well as each of the executed players.

Misty held up Ash's photo first. The ambitious trainer from Pallet Town was grinning enthusiastically as he posed behind the CN Tower.

"I can't believe Ash was executed so early in the game. He was one of my closest friends and losing him on the very first night really hurts," said Misty.

"Ash and I didn't talk much, but from what I saw of him, he seems like a really great guy," said Jeri.

"He is." Misty smiled, putting an arm around Jeri's shoulders. "Ash has a heart of gold."

"I'm glad the dolt is gone. Somebody had to go first and I'm glad all the deserving people go to stay in at least for one round," Gary smirked. Misty shot him a dirty look, but figuring that they weren't going to meet in opinion, they moved on to the next photo.

Jeri was holding a photo of Sora and Yolei together behind the Niagara Falls. Sora wore a modest smile on her face, while Yolei was grinning from ear to ear.

"Sora was like a big sister to me…to all of us," said Jeri. "Something left in the group when she was executed."

"Sora looked like she could have lasted long in the game, if she wasn't held back by a huge and handsome distraction," smirked Gary. Jeri and Misty both know he was talking about Sora's reliance and close attachment to Matt.

"Oh Yolei!" Misty grinned at the photo. "What a great gal. She's always so upbeat and cheerful."

"It's hard not to be smiling when you're around Yolei," added Jeri.

"She was really into you, you know." Misty nudged Gary with her arm. "But you never gave her a second look."

"She was definitely a very fascinating…character." Gary said, and refused to comment on the bubbly purple-haired girl any further.

Gary smirked and rolled his eyes at a photo with Tracey sitting under a tree and sketching the fictional character Sirius Black in his sketchpad.

"I didn't like Tracey very much. He wasn't very nice," said Jeri, frowning slightly.

"An enemy of Tracey is a friend of mine," grinned Gary. This brought a small smile on Jeri's face.

"Tracey isn't like that in real life. He definitely let the game got into his head." said Misty, trying to be a supportive voice for her friend. "He didn't get off into a good start, that's all. He was misunderstood."

"He set himself up after winning all those exemptions. Greed reveals a very nasty side to a person." Gary shook his head mockingly.

"Yeah, but still…he is a nice guy. He is normally very polite and courteous. I just wished you gave him all a chance," argued Misty.

Jeri decided to stop the exchange before it got too out of hand, so she moved on to the next picture in the group. It was a picture of Kenta, Takato and Kazu posing together outside in the snow, beside a snowman they built.

"We got along great inside this game; even though we weren't really that close to begin with. I'm definitely glad we have this chance to bond together," said Jeri.

"Kenta is cool, but I just wished he would have more self confidence. He was always so shy and meek." Misty smiled sheepishly.

"He surprised all of us when he won that Pokemon battle," said Gary.

"That was his defining moment in the game. You should've seen the look in his face when he was there. It was like a new side of Kenta emerged that I've never seen before." Jeri beamed.

Misty held up the final picture, which had Matt and Jessie standing together, both being awfully intimate with each other at the skating rink.

"Matt was very charming," said Misty, carefully phrasing her words.

"I can't believe he fooled all of us by making coalitions with everyone. Did he think he wouldn't get caught?" Gary sneered, waving the photo in the air as a sign of dismissal.

"But overall, I really liked Matt. He let me down at the end, but I enjoyed his jokes and him being such a great friend all the time," said Jeri.

"Not to mention that he's pretty damn hot, wouldn't you agree, Jeri?" Misty giggled. Jeri gave one fast nod and blushed.

"And then there's Jessie. What can we say about our resident diva?" Gary asked.

"I never liked her and I don't think I ever will," said Misty, shrugging. "It's just the way it goes."

Gary and Misty both looked at Jeri for her response, but the little girl refused to comment on the sassy Team Rocket diva who gave her so much pressure and hell throughout the entire game.

"Some things are better left unspoken," Jeri weakly replied.

After dinner, Gary was first to leave the table to prepare for the quiz. He wore an expression that one would find on a crooked witch's face. With his head held up high and bloated with confidence, the young professor left his final thoughts to the camera before the final quiz.

"If there was a deserving winner in this game, it would be me. It might sound arrogant to most of you, but you can't deny that I played the hardest and most fierce game out of everyone. I started playing the game as soon as I got on the bus. Don't hate me because I am an acute observer who caught all the details others might have missed. Don't hate me because I am a sharp analyzer who knows how to take intense notes in my journal. Most of all, don't hate me because I am the winner of this game. Just hate me because none of you done anything about it to stop me."

Gary smirked and looked away from the cameras. In a soft voice, he muttered,

"Besides, nobody ever said that a nice guy was going to win this thing…"

Misty was the next to excuse herself from the table, always wanting a steady period of time to study over her notes before a quiz. One could not miss the intense look in her eyes, burning with a competitive fire so brightly yet so dangerously at the same time. Her fists were clenched and her smile was confidently poised, but yet when she spoke, Misty still carried a friendly and warm tune to her voice. She left one final remark before taking the quiz.

"I had my eyes set on the win for a very long time and I never lost focus on that. I didn't make it into the finals by coincidence. I worked really hard to reach this stage of the game, and I don't want to blow it all away at the end. I am a competitor and I want to _win. _Nobody wants to get the second-place consolation prize. But I'm humble about my chances, seeing as I have two strong competitors facing against me. So I'm just going to try my best and whatever goes will happen.

She shrugged, flashing a cheerful smile at the cameras.

"If I lose, I lose. And if I win, oh boy, I can't start to express how happy I'd be."

Jeri was the only person remaining at the table. She stared dreamily through the windows at the night skies. The stars were twinkling and the moon was clear. Jeri Katou smiled softly, brushing strands of hair away from her eyes. Her face had a stint of all things resembling innocence, purity and sincerity. But there was a defiant sparkle in her eyes that nobody noticed before. It was a side of her that they never saw coming. The little girl shared some final words to the cameras before leaving for the quiz.

"Winning this game would be great. I don't have high hope about my chances nor do I think I'll be the winner of this game. But I want to prove to everyone who doubted me, everyone who snubbed me and everyone who underestimated me. I am not just a naive little girl who stumbled her way into the finals. Don't discredit me from what I have accomplished in this game! Just because I am not as aggressive or as vocal as the other players, this doesn't mean I didn't play the game. I'm very proud that I didn't hurt anybody's feelings and I didn't need to compromise my morals. To me, those are the things that already make you a winner in life."

Jeri stood up from her chair and began to walk away. She smiled, almost defiantly, at the cameras.

"Still, it will be really nice to win this game…"

* * *

The three finalists were taking their quiz in the lobby of the CN Tower, sitting across in each other with a reasonable distance between them. There were twenty questions about the identity of the Mole throughout the entire game. 

Misty clicked **Zero** to the second question: _How many exemptions did the Mole receive?_

"I think that Gary could likely be the Mole. Looking back, he made plenty of mistakes in the challenges, but nobody blamed him because they are seemingly trivial. But the reason we lose those challenges is because of his small mistakes. I think Gary is a very subtle Mole. He doesn't make direct sabotages. He just sets up a trap for players to fall in and then indirectly remove money from the pot. It's a very shady business, but I definitely expect it from someone like Gary."

Gary was reading the sixth question: _What was the Mole's bid during the silent auction?_

"It's very unlikely that Jeri is the Mole, but she did do things that are suspicious enough to consider. Would the Mole really bring so much attention to herself by bidding in the silent auction and solely receiving the blame for the auction? But then again, may be it's reverse psychology. She did put up a very nice performance of crying and weeping in front of everybody, so that may have turned some hearts away. And if that's the case, then I'd have to applaud Jeri Katou at the finale, because I never saw it coming."

Jeri scanned her mouse browser through the list of answers for the eighth question.

"As much as I like her, Misty might be the Mole. I noticed how every time she befriends someone, they immediately get executed afterward. Some examples are: Ash, Yolei, Tracey and even Matt. It's suspicious that every time a player gets close to Misty, they get executed. I don't think it's a coincidence at all. It hits a little too close to home for comfort. It makes me think that all of her friends were not only victims of the Mole…they were also the victims of Misty."

Gary rubbed his chin with deep thought as he read the eleventh question on the laptop. After a few seconds of thinking, he clicked **Yes**.

"Misty is the Mole because she made many suspicious sabotages that you can't overlook. She is a self-claimed water trainer, but yet she gets eliminated first in a swimming challenge. She sees Team Rocket on an almost daily basis, yet she fails to tag them as the kidnappers. Just when you expect Misty to excel in a challenge, she would surprisingly give an underwhelming performance. All of these things add up at the end. It all makes sense if Misty is the Mole."

Jeri was tapping her finger on her mouse as she read the fifteenth question: _How many digivices did the Mole collect?_

"Gary could be the Mole. He is all over the place in challenges. Sometimes he is the hero of the day, racking up huge points in the challenges. Sometimes he can't add a single penny to the pot, not even coming closely to a win. His inconsistency in challenges really has me wondering what his intentions are. He could very well be the Mole and is picking certain challenges to sabotage, and other challenges to deflect suspicion off himself."

Misty answered **Matt and Jessie** for the seventeenth question of the quiz after reading the question twice in her head.

"Jeri is a sweetheart, a real living example of the girl-next-door. Everything she does is so pure and so genuine that it makes me wonder…she would be the perfect cover-up for the Mole. When I think of the Mole, I expect someone who ruthlessly sabotages challenges while manipulating everybody's minds along the way. Nobody would expect the passive and friendly Jeri who means well to everyone to be the Mole. For all I know, it could be a brilliant act. She did her fair share of sabotaging in challenges. But only Jeri just does it with a smile on her face."

Yamaki was also browsing through the quiz in his own laptop. He was on the final question of the quiz: _Who is the Mole?_ He shifted his mouse browser between the three answers, consisting of three very familiar names: _Gary O., Jeri K. and Misty W._

One of those players will be the winner, taking home a well-earned grand prize of $508,000 as well as the satisfactory of defeating the Mole.

One of those players will be the loser, dejected for coming so close to winning, but yet not close enough.

And lastly, one of those players will be the Mole, the clever traitor who successfully sabotaged many challenges and prevented a huge sum of money added into the pot. After hiding behind a false persona for the entire game, the identity of the Mole was about to be revealed.

The little microphone in Yamaki's ear was with the results of the quiz. Yamaki smiled faintly and glanced up at each of the three players, with the knowledge of who the winner was. All he needed to do now was to make the announcement to everyone.

But until the time comes, he could only wait.

TO BE CONTINUED

Next Episode: Finale

All ten players are reunited as a winner is declared, and most importantly, the revealing of the Mole's identity.

Author's Notes

So, it's the second-to-last chapter. I've decided to combine the finale and the reunion to one lengthy chapter, and hopefully it'll be out very soon since the format would be easier to write.

There you have it, folks. This is the last time to make your predictions of who the winner and the Mole are! Is it Gary, Jeri or Misty? The answer to this mystery is about to be revealed, but first I'd like to hear your thoughts. Drop down a review and vote in the Mole Poll one last time.

Here are the results to the last poll: _Who do you want to see win the game?_

42 percent – Jeri

31 percent – Misty

29 percent - Gary

Thanks for waiting all this time! The final chapter will be out soon (finally)!


	9. Episode 9: Finale

**The Mole: Pokemon/Digimon Edition**   
By: Gomamon

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it.

Episode 9 – Finale

Inoue, Yolei/Miyako _(Digimon 02) _--- EXECUTED THIRD

Ishida, Matt/Yamato _(Digimon 01) _--- EXECUTED SIXTH

Jessie/Musashi _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED SEVENTH

Katou, Jeri/Juri _(Digimon 03) _--- **FINALIST**

Ketchum, Ash/Satoshi _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FIRST

Kitagawa, Kenta/Kenta _(Digimon 03)_ --- EXECUTED FIFTH

Oak, Gary/Shigeru _(Pokemon)_ --- **FINALIST**

Sketchit, Tracey/Kenji _(Pokemon)_ --- EXECUTED FOURTH

Takenouchi, Sora/Sora_ (Digimon 01) _--- EXECUTED SECOND

Waterflower, Misty/Kasumi _(Pokemon) _--- **FINALIST**

* * *

Yamaki was in his usual attire for the evening. Wearing his best navy blue suit and a pair of dark sunglasses that hid his tiny evasive eyes, he looked very handsome despite the rugged and weathered outlines of his face. Normally a patient and calm person, he was growing a bit jumpy tonight, tapping his foot impatiently and checking his watch every ten seconds. 

It has been two months since the three finalists completed their final quizzes. The game was officially over, but yet nobody knew the results of the game, nor were they allowed to discuss about it under the strict production contracts. After two months of waiting, the ten players were finally going to be reunited together again. Not only will they relinquish the special moments of the game, they will also find out who won, as well as the person who has been deceiving them throughout the entire game.

Who was the Mole?

One of the few people who knew the results was Yamaki, and he was definitely sick of waiting. For the past few weeks, he longed to tell somebody, but he couldn't even drop the tiniest hint to Riley when she asked. It was a dreadful process to keep a forbidden secret, but at last the wait was over. Tonight, everything was goingt o be revealed. The mystery will be solved and there'll be answers to everything. Yamaki could imagine the events that will lay out in tonight's reunion show. The suspense, the drama, the reactions!

Just then, the main doors to the entrance opened. Riley, the purple haired bus driver, greeted Yamaki with a thin smile. Behind her were the three finalists, all nervous with anticipation. They were led into three separate and adjacent tiny cubicles, where they'll be waiting until Yamaki made the official announcement.

Gary Oak.

Jeri Katou.

Misty Waterflower.

In only a matter of minutes, one of these finalists will walk out of their cubicle as the winner of $508,000.

There will be no more waiting.

* * *

Ash Ketchum grinned widely as he walked out of the elevator, unconsciously looking into the cameras every few seconds. As the first player executed, he still had a lack of comfort in front of the cameras.

"Good evening, Satoshi. Have a nice dinner?" Yamaki asked, greeting him by the elevator door.

"Yes sir!" Ash chuckled. He paused for a second, with a hand lingering on his baseball cap. "Do I need to take my hat off?"

"No, no! It's not that formal of a reunion. Just relax and have fun with your old friends," Yamaki laughed softly. He gestured his hand to the rows of armchairs behind him, most of them already occupied. "Everybody is already here, please take a seat and join them."

Nodding his head, Ash scanned his eyes around the room, but his sight gradually gratified towards the glass windows surrounding the room. They showcased the magnificent clear night sky and the bright twinkling lights of the Toronto city, it was a beautiful and familiar sight. It seemed to Ash that he was here, at the CN Tower, only a few nights ago. This was where the first execution was held, and it was also the location of the last execution as well.

"Last as usual, eh, Ashyboy?" Yolei giggled, slapping a hand playfully on Ash's shoulder as he took a seat in his chair, sitting right beside Sora.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Ash joked, grinning. "Good to see everyone again!"

"Ash, you haven't changed at all!" Kenta laughed.

"Still as cheeky as ever," Tracey added.

"Yeah, I guess the game didn't leave a huge impact on me." Ash shrugged casually. He curiously turned his head to his left. "Hey…what are those cubicles over there for?"

But before Ash could receive a reply, Yamaki had arrived. Not wanting to miss a thing that the host says, the noisy players quickly hushed down.

"Welcome to the finale, players. This has been a long and difficult journey," said Yamaki. "Three players have outlasted you all, and one of them is about to win all the money in the pot – every penny of the $508,000 you've all collaborated by winning challenges, no matter how hard the Mole tried to sabotage them."

"Thanks for rubbing salt in our wounds, Yamaki. You're such a considerate guy," Matt chuckled.

"Whoever wins totally deserves all the money," Tracey admitted. "I still have no idea who the Mole is."

"You all took a survey before coming here about who you thought was the Mole." Yamaki paused for a moment to look at the cue cards in his hands, "Four of you thought that Kasumi was the Mole – let me see a raise of hands."

Sora, Yolei, Matt and Jessie all raised their hands. Tracey looked a little overwhelmed at where the majority of the votes went.

"That little twerp has Mole written all over her scrawny body," said Jessie, rolling her eyes a little. "Remember that challenge where we were picking journals and she won an exemption? She's a damn good liar if you haven't noticed."

"She also has a great game face on for the whole time. You can't read Misty at all, it's _so _frustrating," Yolei added.

"Kenji and Kenta, the two of you thought that Shigeru was the Mole," said Yamaki. "What's your reasoning behind that?"

Tracey and Kenta turned their heads to look at each other, as if prompting the other person to answer Yamaki's question. Kenta just shook his head and shrugged.

"I…don't know, Yamaki. It's just a hunch," Kenta finally answered. "I mean, he really got all of us at the Tentacruel challenge, but I wouldn't bet any money on it."

"Besides, who would've thought someone as big of an asshole as Gary would win the game? It's genius!" Tracey laughed enthusiastically.

"And Satoshi," Yamaki turned towards the young Pokemon trainer. "You're the lone ranger who thought Juri was the Mole."

"I'm in the minority and I've two words for all of you: silent auction." Ash grinned impishly, rubbing his hands together. "We'll see who's gonna be right very soon."

"Oh, we'll definitely see." Yamaki grinned back, slowly walking towards the three cubicles. "In fact, I'll reveal the results right now."

Yamaki stopped in front of the three white cubicles in front of the armchairs. There were three different doors, and though they all looked the same, they each contained somebody very different.

"The three finalists are concealed behind these locked doors, waiting quietly inside their cubicles. The winner, the loser, the Mole," said Yamaki. "There is a scanner in each of these cubicles. They're going to place their hands on these scanners, and when the correct handprint is identified, the door to the cubicle will unlock."

"And then…?" Tracey asked in a soft whisper.

Yamaki grinned and pulled out a cheque from his suit pocket.

"And then the winner will walk out, and in just a few seconds, they'll be over half a million dollars richer."

"The suspense is killing me!" Yolei exclaimed animatedly.

Yolei was correct in stating the atmosphere of the room. To say that all of the players were excited was an understatement. Some of the more giddy players were already on their feet, jumping up and down with anticipation. All seven of them were keenly staring at the door, like monkeys eyeing the last banana in a tree. They were waiting for the door to spring open any second.

"We're about to find out who did what eight other players has failed to do. This person outsmarted the Mole and successfully won $508,000. This person is declared as the winner of the Mole." Yamaki announced, his loud voice drowning all the excited whispering from the other players.

"I _really_ hope Jeri wins this," said Kenta, grinning enthusiastically.

"No way! Misty for the win!" Tracey pumped his fist up in the air.

"As long as it's not Gary…don't let it be Gary. Please don't let Gary win this game…" Ash muttered under his breath and crossed his fingers.

Yamaki cleared his throat very loudly, and silence immediately filled the room again.

"Finalists, please place your hands on the scanner."

The other players couldn't see what was going on behind the cubicles, but they assumed that the three finalists have all placed their hands on a scanner. Any minute now and the triumphant champion will emerge.

tic.

Was it going to be Gary Oak? The professor whose overconfidence initiated many arguments, but his intelligence got him out of each confrontation unharmed.

tic.

Was it going to be Misty Waterflower? The gym leader whose ambition made her an undefeatable competitor, but her compassion also made her many friends in this game.

tic.

Was it going to be Jeri Katou? The sweetheart whose naivety made her too trusting in people, but her intentions was ultimately genuine and pure.

tic.

Only a few seconds passed, but it felt a lot longer for the impatient minds. By now, everybody was gawking at the three white cubicles, waiting for any signs of movement. All was so still and so quiet…it seemed like nothing was going to happen.

"Is there-"

"Shh! Look at the cubicle to the very left!"

Everybody's heads turned instantly. While the other two doors remained closed, only the door of the furthest left cubicle was moving. Slowly but surely, the automatic door of that cubicle was sliding open.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Yamaki declared, "I present to you the winner of the Mole: Pokemon and Digimon Edition!"

The door opened.

There stood the winner in all her glory.

Misty Waterflower had never felt more victorious in her life.

* * *

The full moon was suspended high in the royal blue sky, overshadowing the flickering city lights of Toronto. Its moonlight illuminated the night sky in a way that gave it an almost surreal atmosphere to the city. Perhaps it was the events that just occurred, but the sky oddly resembled a peacefully serene sea, with its gentle waves of blue drifting in between the clouds.

A big ecstatic grin appeared on Misty's face, although it could hardly amount to the jubilation that she felt inside right now. Part of this night still felt like a tranquil dream, where everything was too good to be true. The cheque of half a million dollars was now in her shivering hand was more than enough proof to bring her back into reality. All of this was real. She had just won the game.

"Oh my gawwwwwd! I can't believe it! I thought you were the Mole!" Yolei laughed, wrapping her friend in a giant hug.

"Congratulations Misty!" Tracey beamed, flashing a thumbs-up to the Cerulean gym leader. "You deserve it, every penny of that cheque."

"Thanks everyone," Misty smiled humbly, sounding slightly baffled by the whole thing. "I'm overwhelmed, really."

Yamaki instructed the eight players to take a seat in their armchairs again. After receiving several more hugs and handshakes from the other players, Misty was finally able to take a seat in a chair beside Jessie.

"So Kasumi, congratulations once again to being our new winner," said Yamaki with a small smile. "How does it feel to know that you've just won $508,000?"

"It's amazing, Yamaki. I'm completely blown away right now. I didn't think I was going to win," Misty laughed, stomping her feet on the ground with giddiness.

"One of the most admirable things about you was that you never gave up in the game," said Yamaki. "No matter how tough the situation was, you just kept hanging in there."

"Never say die!" Misty chuckled. "That's the motto I follow by."

"This is a very emotional game and it's very hard to keep a levelled head with all the mental stress. Most of the players kind of checked out and just loses the fire after a while. Just ask Miyako," said Yamaki, gesturing to the purple-haired teenager.

Yolei put on a shocked and offended face, sticking her tongue out at the cameras for a few seconds before bursting into fits of giggles.

"Yeah, I got distracted by having a silly crush over Gary, who for all I know now, could possibly be the Mole!" Yolei laughed, tossing her long flowing purple hair behind her shoulder. "I came into this game thinking that I'd at least put up a good fight to the very end…but I guess it's easy to get sidetracked with so many things going on beside you."

"Good for Misty," said Sora, with a slightly forced smile on her face. "I always knew she was a tough girl."

Misty turned around to give Sora an appreciative smile, but Sora didn't seem to have noticed her kind gesture. Judging from the uncomfortable and rather stiff expression on Sora's face, it was as if she was preoccupied with other troubled thoughts in her head.

"Just how did the determined Cerulean gym leader manage to win this whole game? In the occasion that she did win, we put together a small montage showcasing her finest moments in the game," said Yamaki, gesturing to a widescreen television that nobody else noticed before.

The black television screen slowly faded away, replaced by a face shot of Misty, grinning brightly as she stood in front of the maze in the final challenge. Other shots included her hugging with Matt after winning a gruesome endurance challenge and her celebrating with the others after scoring a $25,000 goal on the ice rink.

* * *

Throughout this entire game, Kasumi Waterflower had her eyes focused on the grand prize, and nobody was going to stop her.

(Jeri and Misty at the restaurant together, having their last lunch.)

Misty: But remember, Jeri…that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you either. Just because I like you, this is still a competition."

Even as her friends get executed…

(Misty gloomily slumps in her chair after Ash's execution.)

Misty: This is a wake up call for all of us. It's a competition and someone always has to go first…

Even as the temptation lurked upon her…

(Misty closes the briefcase after Yamaki made her a proposal to leave the game with $50,000.)

Misty: No, I'll not accept this money, because I'm in here for the experience and the competition. I am not a quitter. I'm not taking the easy way out.

Yamaki: Are you sure?

Misty: I will not take the money.

Even as homesickness plagued the rest of the other players…

Misty: Don't get me wrong, seeing Daisy gave me a huge boost of energy and relief to my homesickness. But now that she's gone, I can go back and stay one hundred percent focused to winning this game.

She never lost her vision of winning this game.

Misty: I didn't make it into the finals by coincidence. I worked really hard to reach this stage of the game, and I don't want to blow it all away at the end. I am a competitor and I want to win.

But not only was she a tough competitor, there was also a compassionate side to Kasumi…

(Misty sighs softly.)

Misty: It's just so hard to see the people you are close with get executed. I know it's a part of the game, but that doesn't make it any easier.

She was the voice of reason when others failed to stand up for the job.

(Jeri cries on Misty's shoulder as Jessie and Tracey harped at her after the silent auction results.)

Misty: Guys, I think that's enough…It's a done deal. Jeri has the exemption and nothing you say could change that fact.

Her friendliness and sincerity quickly made her the good friend of many players in the game.

Tracey: Win it for me, Misty.

Jeri: If I couldn't win the money, I'd really like you to win it. You deserve it. You really do.

Misty Waterflower was an amiable competitor, an honourable friend and most of all, a deserving winner.

Misty: If I lose, I lose. And if I win, oh boy, I can't start to express how happy I'd be.

(Misty smiles cheerfully, and then walks away to take her final quiz.)

* * *

The television screen slowly fades to a black screen again. Misty smiled modestly, still gripping closely to her winning cheque in her hands. She looked slightly more relaxed now, finally beginning to accept the fact that she just won the game.

"Some of the things I said were so corny," laughed Misty.

"What do you think about the players, everyone?" Yamaki looked around at all the excited players, who have been giving pats on the backs to Misty during the montage.

"I tell you what…Misty is the best winner ever." Ash grinned, winking at Misty.

"Totally!" Yolei echoed, nodding her head vigorously.

"Misty is an outstanding player," Matt said, running his hand through his blonde hair. "But when are we going to find out who the Mole is?"

"Yeah!" Kenta shouted excitedly. "I want to know if the Mole is Gary or Jeri!"

"We want the Mole! We want the Mole!" Yolei chanted, raising her fist up in the air.

Yamaki laughed and slowly put his cue cards away in his suit pocket. He inhaled a deep breath, perhaps to calm his nerves a little. Finally, he said in a loud and clear voice.

"Okay, let's find out who the Mole is."

Once again, the players were all very worked up as Yamaki prepared to reveal the identity of the Mole. Only Misty sat patiently and knowledgably in her seat, twiddling her fingers quietly. She avoided answering any questions to her asking directly who the Mole was.

"Let's hear some last minute predictions…who thinks Shigeru is the Mole?" Yamaki asked.

Sora, Tracey and Kenta all raised their hands.

"I'm assuming you four all think that Juri is the Mole then?" Yamaki asked, looking at Ash, Yolei, Matt and Yolei.

"I find it hard to believe that somebody as sweet as Jeri could be the lying deceiving Mole, but stranger things could happen." Matt explained. "The sweet girl image could easily be an act."

"Besides, it's so much harder to believe that the arrogant and holier-than-thou façade was all an act on Gary's part," Jessie added.

"I don't think so," said Tracey, shaking his head. "Jeri is much too sweet and sincere to lie about something like that."

"You didn't sound like that when you started yelling at her for stealing your exemption at the auction," Jessie sneered.

"People _learn_ from their mistakes, Jessie!" Tracey shouted defensively.

"I don't think you have, twerp."

"Oh yeah?"

"Calm down, you two," Yamaki interrupted hastily. "We can save the drama for later in the reunion show. I thought you all wanted to find out who the Mole was."

Tracey and Jessie shot each other dirty looks from their chairs, but remained quiet for the better sake of the show. The others looked on uncomfortably at the situation from their seats. Sora was looking away, with a sort of hurt gaze in her eyes.

"So…" Matt looked around his fellow players unsurely. "Are we going to find out the identity of the Mole or what?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Ash grinned widely. "I can't wait! Come on, reveal it already!"

Yamaki held up two fingers in the air, and all the players became quiet again. None of them dared to make a noise at a pivotal moment like this. If the tension was high and tense during the revelation of the winner, then the atmosphere now was definitely ten times worse. One could feel the silent excitement buzzing in the air.

"One person has been deceiving all the other players throughout the entire game," said Yamaki. "This particular person was secretly hired by the producers to intentionally sabotage challenge and prevent money from being added into the pot. This person is the saboteur…the _Mole._"

"This is the moment we've all been waiting for," Kenta muttered.

"Until now, the identity of the Mole was kept hidden from the players. Seven players have fallen victim to the Mole without even knowing what led to their demise. But all that is about to change, right now," said Yamaki in a loud and demanding voice.

tic.

Jeri Katou was far from an innocent little girl who didn't know what she was doing, despite popular belief of many players. Her most prominent and memorable challenge loss was during the silent auction, when she surprised everybody by winning an exemption at a price of $39,000 deducted from the pot. Many felt betrayed, due to the fact that Jeri stated very clearly she wasn't going to participate in the auction.

tic.

Gary Oak did his fair of sabotages in this game as well. Known for his inability to express sympathy for anybody else but himself, it was a very suspicious move when Gary suddenly opened his heart to Zoe Orimato during a challenge. He was the most pivotal player in that challenge, being the last player remaining and carrying $100,000 in his hands. But his spontaneous moment of vulnerability led to a fatal loss in the pot.

tic.

And was it not Jeri who failed to make the right choice when asked to choose between Jessie and Misty? Both women carried different journals, one with the money while the other had the exemption. Jeri failed to acknowledge Jessie's stern persuasion and chose Misty instead – granting the Cerulean gym leader an exemption at the price of $20,000 from the pot.

tic.

But didn't Gary ruin the chance for Kenta to add $25,000 in a challenge during his secret mission? When the two of them were the last people remaining in the pool, all Kenta had to do was eliminate Gary from the challenge to potentially double the pot. However, Gary ceased the opportunity and eliminated Kenta instead, claiming that he thought an exemption was on the stake, despite the fact that Yamaki said only one exemption will be given during that day.

tic.

Sitting quietly in her seat, Misty knew who the Mole was. She even knew from which door the Mole will emerge from when Yamaki makes the announcement. She had played a good game, but the Mole played an even better game than her. Brilliant sabotages after sabotages, it took her a while before realizing who the Mole truly was. The Mole has been so obvious and so in her face for the entire time. All the hints were there had she, or anybody else, opened their eyes to see it.

But now, she knew who the Mole was. She was certain that the Mole was hiding behind the middle cubicle, waiting to give everybody a gigantic surprise. After weeks of deceiving everyone, it was finally time for an unbelievable revelation.

She looked at Yamaki curiously, who was purposely stalling as much time as possible before revealing the results. The rest of the players were on the edge of their seats, hanging on to the suspense of every second. Finally, the words came out of the host's mouth. It was the cue.

"Mole, reveal yourself."

Just like Misty expected, it was the door of the middle cubicle that made any movement. The door automatically slid open, in a slow and mechanical manner. It seemed like an eternity before the players could even catch a glimpse of the Mole.

Before the door was fully open, players started to gasp in awe. They knew instantly who the Mole was. Just from the brief glance, they immediately recognized the structure, the clothing and the raven brown hair.

But the clue that truly gave it all away was the way the mouth curled up to form a defiant and much despised smirk. It was the smirk that always hinted he was better than the rest of them. The smirk that constantly mocked them as if he knew something the other players didn't. The smirk that explained why he was always so confident he would be in the finals.

Gary Oak stood proudly in front of his cubicle.

He was the Mole.

* * *

There was not a single cloud in the clear night sky, with only the full moon shining highly above like a light bulb in an otherwise dark room. Stars were rare to see under the city lights, but those that appeared in the sky shone brightly to match the events that occurred just a few seconds ago.

It was truly hard to capture the moment when the secret was revealed. People were surprised, awestruck and even astonished to find out that they've been guessing at the wrong suspect all along. But the big secret was revealed and everybody finally knew who the Mole was.

"You're the Mole. You're _really_ the Mole!" Yolei cried gleefully.

"I knew it! Ha!" Tracey grinned, slapping a high-five with an equally excited Kenta.

While the others continued to enthusiastically celebrate the moment, Gary marched up to the remaining cubicle and opened the door. A defeated looking Jeri Katou slowly stumbled out, smiling weakly at all of the cheering players. Gary gave her a comforting pat on the back before they both walked to their seats.

"The questions have all been answered. Juri, unfortunately, you're the Mole's eighth and final victim. I'm sorry to say that you've been executed from the game," announced Yamaki, gesturing to the red television screen.

Jeri slowly nodded her head, with a faint smile on her face. Misty reached over to her seat and gave her a small squeeze in the hand.

"Kasumi is the winner, the person who figured it all out, taking home a grand prize of $508,000."

Misty grinned appreciatively, still clutching tightly to her cheque in her left hand.

"And finally, the person we've all been looking for…Shigeru is the Mole."

Gary chuckled heartily, perhaps sounding the most genuine and humanly than any of the players have heard him before.

"Wow, I'm speechless…" Ash muttered with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Shigeru, how does it feel right now?" Yamaki asked.

"I feel relieved. Somebody removed an enormous burden off my shoulder and I'm finally free again," Gary replied. He looked around at his fellow players, "It isn't easy being the Mole. Believe me."

"Most of the players don't know this, but…" Yamaki grinned slyly, "I understand that you've been putting up a bit of an act all along. The whole arrogant professor was a persona that you've picked up, no?"

"No way, man!" Matt exclaimed sharply.

"I figured nobody would think that somebody who's so full of himself could actually be the Mole," Gary chuckled. "Most of the time, I just act like the biggest conceited prick in the world and get into everybody's faces. You guys probably hate me so much that you never suspected me as the Mole."

"So that's why I got executed first!" Ash suddenly shouted out, causing all of the other players to burst into laughter as well.

"I'm proud to be an asshole," said Gary, shrugging.

"But is the arrogant professor that we all saw the real you?" Yamaki asked.

"I could be a nice guy too. I mean, I'm only human," laughed Gary. "Actually, I did exaggerate certain negative aspects of my personality to play a role. I'm not normally _that_ pretentious. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but someone as self-aware as me should know when I'm getting on people's nerves and where to draw the line."

"I always thought the Mole would keep a lower profile than get into confrontations every day, but what do I know?" Matt scratched his head. "I guess that explains why I got executed. Hey, I _did_ have a coalition with the Mole!"

Matt chuckled, running a hand through his golden blonde hair. Gary just smirked.

"Keeping a secret is not easy. I didn't get close to anybody in the game because I was afraid I might let something slip. That's why I kept pushing Yolei away every time she tried to get close to me," said Gary.

"Ha!" Yolei laughed jovially. "And I kept throwing myself at you, the Mole! Oh, I'm sooooo stupid!"

"That must've been an interesting relationship," Misty smiled, nodding her head.

"Kasumi, I've got to ask you this. How did you know?" Yamaki asked. "When did you figure out who the Mole was?"

"It was actually during the kidnapping challenge. I was interrogating Gary about his whereabouts, and the version of his story actually contradicted with TK's story. Since I figured that if TK is not the kidnapper, he'd have no reason to lie to us…that could mean that Gary _lied_," said Misty.

"That's actually how I knew Gary was the Mole as well," said Jeri, speaking finally. "I was there with Misty during the interrogation and I've caught on to his lie. He said TK wasn't in the house when he arrived from lunch, but TK claimed that he didn't leave the house at all."

"And you figured it out just because of that?" Kenta asked, sounding a little bewildered.

"Yeah. There was no other reason for Gary to lie unless he wanted to sabotage the challenge…" Jeri nodded her head.

"And he did! We thought that TK and Matt were the kidnappers just because of Gary's little lie about TK not being in the house!" Misty said, "We believed him and it cost us $75,000!"

"But because of that, you figured out that he was the Mole and won the game. So it must be a pretty good bargain for you after all," said Yamaki wryly.

The rest of the players laughed, and a bashful Misty quickly joined in.

"If you thought playing the game was hard, then being the Mole is even harder," said Yamaki. "We've prepared a special montage of all the sabotages that Shigeru performed in the game. You've just heard one of the many cases when our conniving little Mole struck and lost the challenge for the group, but that wasn't the only time. Just how did the Mole sabotage all those challenges without people noticing?"

"This should be good," Gary chuckled softly.

The television screen slowly showed a stern looking Gary sitting at the front of the bus, listening obediently to Yamaki's instructions on the first day.

* * *

EPISODE ONE

With his articulate mind and confident composure, the producers knew that Gary Oak would be the perfect Mole. Starting on Day 1, he was the double agent on an undercover mission to sabotage as many challenges as possible. Needless to say, he didn't let anybody down.

Gary (confessional): Hello, my name is Gary Oak. I am the Mole.

On the first day, Gary had no control over which challenge he would be participating in, since elected leader Sora made all the decisions. But he did know beforehand that in every challenge, there was an exemption proposal in exchange of forfeiting the money earned. Gary used that to his advantage.

Along with fellow competitors Tracey and Kenta, the three men were assigned to navigate through the unfamiliar streets of Toronto and find a specified hotel. On their provided map, there was a mysterious detour that led to a potential exemption.

It didn't take very long for our cunning Mole to point out the detour in order to tempt his team members…

Gary: What's this?

(Gary circles his finger at a highlighted area around the lower left of the map.)

Tracey: Light green is the colour of exemptions, right?

Gary: Uh, I dunno.

It was even easier than he could imagine. A greedy Tracey quickly had fallen prey to temptation, more or less under Gary's guidance in the matter. Gary also showed subtle signs of wanting to go after the exemption as well, forcing Tracey to immediately take the offer without further second thoughts.

Tracey: I'll go!

Gary: Wait! I don't think it's a good idea to split up. Besides, I found the place first.

Tracey: But it's an exemption!

Gary: It isn't fair that you get an exemption when we don't!

(Tracey coyly grins at Gary before running away.)

Tracey: Screw you.

Since Tracey didn't return before the allotted time, the group lost $10,000. When Gary craftily sent one player away on a faraway detour, the whole challenge was lost then and there. Although he didn't directly sabotage the challenge, the Mole indirectly prevented money from being added to the pot.

In addition, Gary also managed to avoid being blamed for the entire challenge loss, using Tracey as his scapegoat. Only Kenta suspected that Gary was the Mole on the first quiz.

It was an excellent start for the Mole. 

EPISODE TWO

The second challenge that Gary participated in required him to steal a briefcase from. Unfortunately, he was not only competing with a determined competitor in Sora, but also Yolei and Tracey for the prize.

In preparation for the challenge, Gary carefully arranged with the hotel managers to shut down the power for a few minutes after midnight. While he did manage to steal the briefcase from Sora during this time, he unfortunately forgot the combination to unlock it.

Gary: Crap, what's the password?

(In the midst of darkness, Gary frets with the lock combination on the briefcase, trying with each number at a time.)

Gary: Think Gary, think! It was zero something…

(Gary points his flashlight at where he heard the footsteps approaching. It was Sora.)

Sora: Gotchya.

To make matters worse, Tracey ended up losing the challenge again as he won his second consecutive exemption in the game.

Gary (confessional): He just keeps stealing the Mole's thunder. I'm supposed to sabotage that challenge, not Tracey Sketchit!

EPISODE THREE

Gary got into an unpleasant confrontation with Tracey when the two men butted heads over the neutralizer challenge. Gary deliberately drew attention to on Tracey again, fully aware that the Pokemon Watcher was far too stubborn and greedy to neutralize himself.

Yamaki: If you volunteer to be neutralized, I'll add $5,000 in your lonely pot.

Gary: I think Gary should be neutralized. He already has two exemptions.

Tracey: I'm not giving up my exemption, never.

Gary: I would've expected it coming from someone as selfish as you.

Tracey: I'm not selfish! I'm just looking out for myself!

The Mole wasn't afraid to instigate confrontations and he certainly wasn't afraid to get into other people's faces. But every time, Gary managed to keep a straight face and maintain his calm composure. Never growing emotional was one of his stronger traits as the Mole.

Gary: Hey, I'm not the bad guy here.

Tracey: If you're such the wannabe hero that you act to be, why don't you volunteer to be neutralized?

Gary: I never received an exemption, unlike you, with two.

Tracey: This has nothing to do with my two exemptions!

Gary: Oh yes it does.

Tracey: NO!

Arguments resolve nothing. Despite making such a big fuss over it, they never managed to add the $5,000 into the pot.

EPISODE FOUR

In this episode, Gary managed to sabotage not one, but two challenges. After staying relatively low-key for the past few days, he was slipping out of many people's suspicion lists. Even Kenta was starting to have other doubts as well. Since he was almost on the verge of being dismissed, it was the best time for Gary to suddenly strike again.

First was the Tentacruel challenge, in which the players were supposed to remove red ribbons from the swift water creatures in a swimming pool. The group picked Kenta to go on a secret mission so that he'll double the pot if he was the last remaining player in the pool. If he is successful, he'd double their earnings to $50,000.

Gary initially didn't think that Kenta would last long enough in the challenge, but he surprised the Mole (and everybody else) by hanging on until the end. When Kenta launched a surprise attack on Tracey after they've won $25,000, Gary knew that he must do something to stop Kenta from doubling the earnings.

Misty: We won! We did it!

(Kenta suddenly swims over to Tracey and rips off the ribbon from his leg.)

Yamaki: Kenji is eliminated from the challenge! One minute and fifteen seconds left!

Tracey: What the…what's going on?

Gary: Kenta was offered an exemption! He must have! That's why he's doing this!

Matt: Stop him! Don't let him sabotage the pot!

(Kenta frantically chased Gary around the pool, trying his best to grab for his leg. But the agile Gary proved to be too quick for him, easily dodging all of his advances. Finally, when the two competitors dove underwater, Gary re-emerged first with Kenta's red ribbon in his hand.)

The Mole pretended to be under the false assumption that Kenta was offered an exemption, despite the fact that Yamaki mentioned earlier that only one exemption will be given this round. Nevertheless, Gary stopped Kenta from doubling the pot, preventing $25,000 from being added into the pot.

His second sabotage was a controversial one. Gary always intended to sabotage the silent auction, where the highest bidder would sacrifice a certain amount of money from the pot in order to win an exemption. But he was surprised when Jeri Katou vocally expressed that she wasn't going to participate in the auction. The light bulb in his head lit up when he heard her gutsy statement, as he quickly hatched up with a brilliant plan.

Yamaki: There will be one exemption given this round. You'll place individual bids inside this laptop, just type your name and the amount of money you're willing to give up for this exemption. Once your name is submitted into the computer, it will not let you enter another bid.

Gary: What if there is a tie?

Yamaki: If there is a tie, then neither of the players will win the exemption. The player with the second highest bid will take the exemption instead.

Matt: I don't think any of us should bid higher than $20,000.

Gary: Good idea. We can reduce our losses this way.

Jeri: Well, I won't be bidding on the exemption, and I hope you all do the same.

Immediately after their loss in the Tentacruel challenge, Gary headed over to the computer in order to bid in the auction. First, he disguised himself as Jeri and placed a bid of $39,000 under her name.

(Gary is typing in the computer. Jeri Katou's name in big capital letters can be seen on the screen.)

Gary had to make sure that Jeri will be the highest bidder in the auction, so he tweaked the results by also submitting in bids for Misty, Matt and Kenta as well. He entered a $40,000 bid for the three of them, so they'll tie and their bids will cancel each other out.

(Gary is seen typing Misty, Matt, Kenta and his own bids in the computer. They were all in capital letters.)

Later as the bids were being read, Gary complained with the rest of the players about how they weren't able to enter bids because of a _technical error_. When in reality, it was because Gary had submitted bids for all of them already, and the computer will only accept one entry per player.

Gary: Yamaki, I couldn't enter my bid into the laptop. The computer said that my bid was already submitted…but I haven't entered a bid yet.

Yamaki: Did anybody else have this problem?

(Matt and Misty raised their hands.)

Misty: Yeah, it said something about that my bid was already submitted. I didn't even put a bid in.

Since Kenta and Jeri didn't try to enter their bids into the computer, hence they were unaware that somebody entered bids for them until the results were being revealed.

KENTA KITAGAWA

--- $40,000

Kenta: Okay, wait a minute! I didn't even enter a bid into this laptop! I stayed away from this auction altogether!

Jessie: Yeah right.

Gary: Yamaki, I think you should do this whole auction again. There is obviously something very wrong here.

Kenta: Yeah, I demand a redo!

His plan wasn't proof free, since Tracey and Jessie both entered bids before Gary had a chance to get near the computer. But because of Matt's plan, neither of them had extremely high bids. Still a disobedient Tracey was the front-runner for the exemption with his unique bid of $20,500 until the final entry was revealed.

Yamaki: Here is the final bid. And also, the winner of our exemption goes to…

(Yamaki clicked on a key in his laptop, revealing one very distinguishing name on the screen.)

JERI KATOU

--- $39,000

Jeri: What? I didn't enter a bid at all!

Tracey: Traitor!

Jeri: Guys, you have to believe me. I didn't put that bid in. I swear.

Because of Gary's fraudulent actions, an innocent Jeri received the heat for bidding on an exemption. Players were extremely furious at her since she claimed that she wouldn't bid on the auction, which she didn't do. And of course, why would a regular player want to reward another competitor with the exemption? If Jeri didn't give herself the exemption, then the only other logical suspect would've to be the Mole.

A guilty Gary felt horrible after seeing how brutal the other players were towards Jeri, but in order to maintain his identity, Gary said very little to defend her. It was a bittersweet victory for the Mole. He finally pulled off his biggest sabotage to date, but along the way he also caused some ugly emotions to flare.

It was at this point that our eventual winner Misty began to feel suspicious towards Gary. As the only person who truly believed that Jeri was blameless, she began to look at the big picture and slowly narrowed down an accurate list of who could possibly be the Mole. While the other players, including Kenta, were being narrow-minded in thinking that Jeri was the Mole, Misty looked at the big picture in the challenge. She knew that there was something more about the silent auction than meets the eye.

EPISODE FIVE

When the players were offered an opportunity to visit their family, almost all of them agreed to sacrifice $10,000 in order to see them. The Mole played the devil's advocate by going against the group's opinion, just for the sake of argument.

Gary: Do you realize what you guys are doing? We can add $10,000 into the pot right now! Doesn't anybody see my point?

Matt: Gary, Gary, Gary…I know you don't have a single human emotion in your scrawny body, but the rest of us do and this family visit means a lot to us.

Gary: I think you're making a big mistake out of this. You guys are just helping the Mole take money away from the pot.

Oh, the irony.

All things considered, it was the unpopular Gary who voiced a feeble objection against the majority, so it was obvious that his opinion would be disregarded in the grand scheme of things. But it was trivial things like this that Gary did in order to remove suspicion.

During the only challenge in this episode, the Mole found a tactful way for sabotage. Detectives Misty, Jeri and Kenta had to figure out who kidnapped Takato. And while Gary wasn't the criminal, he told a crafty lie during interrogation period in order to throw the detectives off the lead.

Gary: When we came back to our house, nobody was there. It was only gramps and me. That was kind of weird because everybody was in the house when we left.

Kenta: Where did everybody go?

Gary: I don't know.

But of course, that wasn't the truth.

Misty: Did you go out at all today?

TK: Not unless you count the short trips between the two headquarters when we met for the challenge. I don't like going outside when it's freezing.

(TK leaves the basement. Jeri and Misty compare notes with each other.)

Jeri: Well, I don't think TK has any reason to lie to us unless Matt is the kidnapper.

Misty: But his story doesn't match up with Gary's at all. Gary said that TK was gone from the house when he came back, but TK said that he never left the house today.

Gary's version of the story contradicted with what TK gave to the detectives. In the challenge, they believed Gary's story (since it was played along with Jessie and James, the real kidnappers) and accused of Matt and TK as the Mole. Gary's little lie played a big factor in the final decision, causing the detectives to make the mistake and ruining $75,000 from the pot.

However, it was also this mistake that made both finalists Jeri and Misty realize that Gary was the Mole. They knew that if TK was innocent, he'd have no intention to falsify his story. Gary also had no reason to lie since he wasn't the kidnapper, but he did. Why? It was at this moment that Jeri started to consider Gary as a suspect. And for Misty, Gary's lie confirmed her suspicions that he was definitely the Mole. She might have lost $75,000 in this challenge, but she was well on her way to winning this challenge.

EPISODE SIX

It was in this episode that Gary made his biggest sabotage in the entire game. For somebody who usually remained very calm and emotionless even under tense pressure and frantic chaos (ie. his performance in the digital world as dangerous creatures started to attack), it should've been an immediate red flag to see Gary suddenly acting smitten with Zoe Orimoto. But like everything else he does in the game, he had an ulterior motive.

First was the hockey challenge, where the players were asked to either score a goal against Zoe, or save a goal shot by Zoe. Knowing that he will sabotage the challenge, Gary opted to play for the largest sum of money possible in the challenge.

Gary: I'll play for the $30,000 shot, seeing as I'm the best hockey player around here.

Jessie: Who died and made you boss?

Gary's plans carried out exactly the way he wanted to, he failed miserably when he was asked to step up to the plate.

Yamaki: Get ready…set…go!

(Gary slapped the hockey stick against the puck with an extremely strong force, but he misses completely as the puck travelled in a completely different direction away from the net.)

Yamaki: Izumi wins the match! Shigeru failed to put $30,000 into the pot!

The Mole put no effort into scoring at all, as indicated by the lack of direction from his puck, but even the less athletic Jeri managed to get her puck near the net.

However, this was only a warm-up for the events following later that day. The second challenge of the day required players to go on a scavenger hunt for ten digivice in the snowy open field, while huntress Zoe will throw snowballs to eliminate them from the challenge. Although they only needed to bring back ten digivices to Yamaki, there were a total of twenty digivices scattered around.

Gary did something that nobody would ever expect the Mole to do in this challenge. He was actually searching and collecting the digivices very quickly. But while the other players assumed that Gary was doing a fantastic job, they didn't know that he never intended to cash the digivices for money.

Instead, he just kept on finding as many digivices as possible, adding them to his expanding collection. After a while, the players realize that it's growing more difficult to find digivices...because our clever Mole has collected all of them!

Jessie: Arrgh! It's almost like these digivices vanished or something!

(Jessie sniffled as she angrily kicked the snow.)

(Meanwhile, Gary is grinning confidently to the cameras.)

Gary: I only need one more for a full set.

By removing all of the digivices available in the field, Gary ensured that none of the players will be able to bring them back to Yamaki, thus no money will be added to the pot.

When he knew that everybody else was eliminated, Gary was ready to play out the final act of his scheme. In a rather dramatic staged exit, Gary showed an unusual behaviour by "letting his guard" down in front of a vulnerable Zoe, who then eliminated him from the game. Anybody who truly knew Gary would've known that he was too clever and too composed to actually fall for her act – but alas, nobody suspected.

Despite having more digivices than he needed than he needed, Gary didn't contribute adding a single penny in that challenge. He could have easily brought back the digivices to Yamaki and add $80,000 into the pot, but he didn't. Not only that, but he also stopped other players from adding money into the pot. He never had any intent to cash in any of the digivices he gathered. It was a win-win situation for the Mole.

At the end of the day, the Mole managed to stop an overwhelming $110,000 from being added into the pot.

EPISODE SEVEN

In the first challenge of this episode, the remaining four players were supposed to search the house for hidden CDs. Gary attempted to mislead the players, but he ultimately failed because he didn't want to bring too much unflattering attention upon himself.

Jeri: Let's look through other appliances!

Gary: There's nothing in the microwave!

(A few minutes later, Jeri curiously opened the microwave door one more time. She lifted up the pizza box inside the microwave.)

Jeri: I found it! It was under the pizza box the whole time!

(Jessie immediately turned to Gary suspiciously.)

Jessie: What? I thought you said that there was nothing in the microwave!

Gary: There wasn't anything! It was just a pizza box! I didn't see any CDs.

But he didn't miss an opportunity to lose in the second challenge. Since he was the first player to complete his brain teasers, Gary unlocked the "secret trap" and unleashed a virus in the other players' computers. He was supposed to alert and stop them from downloading the virus before it was too late. Obviously, the Mole had no rush to warn the other players.

(Gary sits motionlessly in his chair for a few seconds after hearing Yamaki's revelation about the secret trap from the computer.)

Making sure that he stalled enough time, Gary took a very leisure stroll to make sure the other players would've downloaded the virus before he arrived. In fact, he made sure to conveniently arrive at Jeri's place a minute after she finished the brain teasers. Every time a virus is downloaded, they lose $25,000 from the pot.

Jeri: Gary, what are you doing here?

Gary: Stop whatever you're doing, Jeri!

(Gary winced as he looked at the black screen on her laptop.)

Gary: Too late.

Although they were too quick (or rather, Jessie was too slow in finishing her puzzle), Gary also managed to be just too late in order to stop Misty from downloading a virus as well. With two virus-infected computers that he was accountable for, Gary managed to take what was supposedly an $80,000 reward and drop it into a measly amount of $30,000.

EPISODE EIGHT

In the second-to-last challenge, the players were asked to find a key, using several seemingly random objects as clues that connected to a bigger theme. The way that the clues were arranged had a special meaning, but Gary immediately destroyed it.

Yamaki: If there are no more questions…the challenge starts now!

(Gary immediately removed all of the items from both cardboard boxes given, scrambling them in a pile. He then placed the boxes under the table, completely out of view.)

Later, it would be revealed that the objects were divided into two categories based on which cardboard box it was in. But the players would never have been able to figure it out since Gary immediately removed all of the items from the boxes as soon as he could get their hands on it. Instead of looking at the items in their specified categories, the players assumed now they've to connect all of the items together, which will only led to more confusion and muddled answers.

The cardboard boxes also contained clues on them, but Gary immediately put the cardboard boxes under the table after disposing the items, in hopes that the players wouldn't notice the clue written on those boxes. Neither Misty nor Jeri noticed the significance of the word "MOUSE" written on the boxes, thanks to Gary.

Last but not least, Gary also broke the teapot, one of the critical clues in the challenge. Since the important clue was the actual "tea" inside the teapot, Gary removed that from investigation when he intentionally pushed the teapot off the table, spilling the tea on the floor. He quickly swept up the pieces and mopped the floor, more than happily as he erased an important clue in the investigation.

Jeri: Is there any tea in the teapot? Yeah, there's some tea inside.

Gary: How do you know it's tea and not just water? Don't jump to conclusions like that.

Jeri: Oh gee, sorry.

(While Jeri put down the teapot, Gary pulled the teapot closer to the edge of the table. And then with a swift motion with the hand, he pushed the glass teapot off the floor, watching the item shattering into many pieces.)

He also attempted to cause a distraction by proposing that they rebuild the teapot from the pieces, but neither Misty nor Jeri took on the time-wasting offer.

With so many of the original evidence destroyed by our Mole, it was inevitable that they failed the challenge. They ended up losing $70,000 from the pot.

OVERALL

Episode 1: -$10,000

Episode 2: $0

Episode 3: $0

Episode 4: -$64,000

Episode 5: -$75,000

Episode 6: -$110,000

Episode 7: -$50,000

Episode 8: -$70,000

TOTAL SABOTAGE: -$379,000

* * *

"You little shit!" Matt laughed heartily. "You _did _rig the results of the silent auction!"

"Sorry Jeri. But I had to do it." Gary smirked guiltily, patting Jeri softly on the back.

Jeri sat quietly in her chair and smiled faintly, nodding her head but not replying back. She had a bit of a dazed look as she stared out the glass windows.

After the friendly and loud reunion started, Yamaki watched the players silently with careful observation. Most of them were genuinely delighted about the night, especially winner Misty, whose huge excited smile could light up the entire room. In comparison, runner-up Jeri looked slightly disappointed and dissatisfied, but that was perfectly understandable.

But Sora Takenouchi looked like the saddest person in the room and Yamaki couldn't understand why. She was wearing an unusually forced smile that does not look flattering on her. She rarely participated in any of the lively conversations tonight, choosing to mope instead and occasionally glare towards Matt's direction.

"And was that why you hated me so much?" Tracey asked loudly, almost on the verge of shouting. He was too caught up with questioning the Mole, "Because I sabotaged so many challenges?"

"Precisely," Gary chuckled. "I kept asking the producers if you were the real Mole for the first few days because even I thought you were suspicious."

"Wow," mumbled Tracey, sounding almost dumbfounded.

"You have to admit, it was pretty suspicious," said Misty, playfully putting an arm on Tracey's shoulder. "You had three exemptions in the first three rounds, buddy!"

"What was the obsession with exemptions, Kenji?" Yamaki asked.

Tracey sighed, nervously tapping his fingers on the armchair. He looked at Yamaki with uncertainty.

"Well, I wouldn't call it an obsession…"

A few seats away, Matt was bursting into silent laughter with Jessie. Tracey sneered and ignored them.

"I just did what I needed to do in order to stay in this game," he finally said.

"You were very intense during the game," said Yamaki. "Is this a side of Tracey that we've never seen before?"

"No way! Tracey is a really nice guy!" Ash blurted out. "He is misunderstood."

"I agree. He is normally very gentle and peaceful. I think it's just his competitive and more assertive side that dominated here," Misty added.

Tracey smiled appreciatively towards his two friends. It was an absolutely wonderful feeling to have friends backing him up.

"Thank you."

Yamaki nodded and slowly turned his focus towards Sora once again. Seeing her sad smile just brought a sudden urge inside him to find out what's wrong. Something is wrong and he just had to know why.

"Miss Sora?" He suddenly asked out of the blue, looking up at her hopefully. The other players were still too busy in their chatter to noticed, but Jessie curiously turned her head towards Sora's direction as well.

"Uh…yes, Mr. Yamaki?" Sora nervously laughed, not truly expecting to be asked a question from Yamaki.

"Is there anything bothering you?"

Jessie eyed Sora with keen interest, wondering in her head where Yamaki was going with this question. From the little time they spent together, Jessie got along with Sora because of their similar ages and maturity.

"N…no," replied Sora flatly, looking quite uncomfortable in her seat.

From all her experiences as a Team Rocket member, Jessie instantly knew it sounded like a lie. But unlike Yamaki, she knew what was bothering Sora and what she must do to cheer her up.

"Sora, I'm really sorry for kissing Matt. You know me, I'm impulsive. In the back of my mind, I remembered him being your boyfriend, but it was too late by then. It was just a one-time playful thing and I assure you I'm not trying to hurt you or steal your boyfriend like that. I may be a bitch, but I'm not a boyfriend stealer."

"Jessie…i-it's not…" Sora mumbled nervously, not knowing how to respond back after such a dynamic speech from Jessie.

"It is. I know it is about that kiss." Jessie interrupted, with Matt nodding his head beside her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything about it."

"Oh Jessie…it's really not that…"

But despite what she said, Yamaki noticed that Sora certainly looked more cheerful for the rest of the night.

"What about the clues?" Kenta suddenly asked. "I thought there were hidden clues in every episode!"

"Yeah that! I want to see it!" Yolei shouted, pumping her fist up in the air.

"Alright," said Yamaki. He gathered everybody's attention towards the television screen once again. "As you might or might not have known, there was a secret clue hidden in each and every episode. If you've found any of the eight clues listed above, you probably would've a pretty good idea who the Mole was coming into this finale."

Yamaki paused, slyly smiling to the rest of the players.

"So let's check out the clues, shall we?"

* * *

EPISODE ONE

There is a clue hidden somewhere in the story every episode. Some are quite explicit, while others are hidden very implicitly. Check out how many you've found!

Here is the first clue in Episode 1. The two follow sentences (in italics) are taken out from dialogue that Yamaki says in the first chapter:

"She was then asked to select three navigators from the group. That would be **Gary**, Kenta and Kenji."

"**Ash**, you are the Mole's first victim. You have been executed from the game, please come with me."

The only two times in the whole story where Yamaki didn't refer to the players using their Japanese names like he normally does.

The first time was Gary, the Mole. The second time was Ash, when he was executed by the Mole. By singling the two players out, Yamaki highlighted the possible connection between the two players. The Mole and his victim. The executioner and the executed.

Since it was the first execution and Ash was the first victim, this was the first (and only) time that Yamaki will refer to Gary and Ash in their English names.

EPISODE TWO

The below text in italics is taken from the second chapter. They're all related to the second clue of the series:

It was twenty three minutes past midnight

00:23

There is a numeric lock on the briefcase, and the password is 0-2-3.

0-2-3

"You've won $20,000 in the endurance challenge," said Yamaki, holding up **two** fingers in left hand, "But unfortunately, your team mates at the hotel failed to add $30,000 into the pot." He held up **three** fingers in his right hand for emphasis.

2 & 3

Also note of interest: in episode **two **that there were **three **possible clues.

The numbers **two** and **three** are very important numbers to this clue if they are properly arranged. So why are they so important?

Here's the reason:

Looking up at the eight episode titles, if you look at the **second** word and take the **third** letter, you'll have eight letters that you could easily unscramble to form one secret message…

Episode 1: The Biggest Ego **G**

Episode 2: A Cry for Wolf **Y**

Episode 3: Two Worlds **R**

Episode 4: Let's Play Mind Games **A **

G-A-R-Y

Episode 5: Hello Sherlock **E**

Episode 6: Along Came Zoe **M**

Episode 7: Vile Villainous Victory **L**

Episode 8: Guess Who **O **

M-O-L-E

GARY MOLE

It was inside the episode titles all along…

EPISODE THREE

Throughout Episode 3, I've made intentional spelling mistakes in order to spell out an implicit message. If you put all the missing letters of the words, you'll spell out a nice and clear message - **GARY MOLE**.

Other than the word "winning", all of the other missing letters are inside words wrapped somewhere in Yamaki's dialogue:

**(G) - 'winnin' should be 'winning'**

_But Kenta didn't care about winnin or losing _

**_(A) - 'ambassdor' should be 'ambassador' _**

_Ambassdor Miyako will take her team of Shigeru, Kenji and Kasumi to the Digital World._

**_(R) – 'foeigners' should be 'foreigners' _**

_Your job for now is to show the foeigners about your world. _

**_(Y) - 'destro' should be 'destroy' _**

_For every dark spiral you destro, you will add $10,000 to the pot. _

**_(M) - 'abassador' should be 'ambassador' _**

_If nobody wins, then the abassador will receive it. _

**_(O) - 'regin' should be 'region' _**

_You'll be fighting individual battles against four predetermined gym leaders of the Johto regin._

**_(L) - 'congratuations' should be 'congratulations' _**

_Congratuations, you have added $30,000 into the pot by winning that battle _

**_(E) - 'scren' should be 'screen' _**

_When your name comes up, if the scren flashes green, you are safe._

**_EPISODE FOUR_**

An almost similar clue to Episode 3, but this time I've added an extra letter that if put together will spell out a hidden message. All eight extra letters are found somewhere inside Yamaki's dialogue:

**(G) – Biddingg**

"However, the money you are biddingg with will come directly from the pot. In addition, none of the bids can be higher than $40,000."

**(A) - Claaiming**

"Your fellow players underestimated you by claaiming that you would do the worst in this challenge"

**(R) - Tentacrruel**

""Three minutes and thirty seconds left! The second Tentacrruel is caught!"

**(Y) - Onlyy**

"With onlyy one guess, you must decipher the word to earn $30,000 into this pot."

**(M) - Themm**

"You have to unscramble themm and try to guess what word that spells out."

**(O) - Congratulatioons**

"Congratulatioons. You've added $30,000 into the pot."

**(L) - Alll**

"This is alll very strange."

**(E) - Offeense**

"I trust the computer more than you guys, no offeense."

The message is, once again, **GARY MOLE**.

EPISODE FIVE

The fifth clue takes reference to the popular series by Arthur Conan Doyle, **Sherlock Holmes**. Although his name is mentioned several times in the chapter, the real clue refers to some of the stories that Sherlock Holmes partook in.

Words in italics are taken out of events that happened in Episode Five.

#1

Reference to **The Adventure of the Speckled Band**

Fearing about her sister's last words "speckled band" before mysterious dying in her room, Miss Helen Stoner consults Sherlock Holmes for help when her stepfather demands her to move inside her sister's room.

Gary asked, dragging his black suitcase out of the bus. He was wearing a **speckled** head**band** around his head and covered in a long black trench coat.

#2

Reference to **The Problem of Thor Bridge**

When a governess is blamed for a murder, Sherlock Holmes found many flaws in the scenario, including a chip on the stone bridge where the death took place.

"There is always a problem revolving around Jessie. Always." Gary said in his confessional, "She will bitch about the tiniest thing and make a huge blowout spectacle about it. Find the tiniest **chip on a bridge** and she will bitch about it. I'll tell you flat out, I have no respect for over the top drama queens like her."

#3

Reference to **The Adventure of the Second Stain**

When a mysterious blood stain on the carpet doesn't correspond with a second stain on the floor, Sherlock Holmes starts to question the whereabouts of the missing letter.

Gary knocked at the door to the basement. While waiting for a response, he noticed the **two** dark brown **stains** on the carpet.

As you could see, the three references to three stories of Sherlock Holmes were all included in a scene that involved Gary. He was the only person who got three scenes that credited the stories of Sherlock Holmes.

Like the famous detective, the Mole is the only person who knew all of the answers to the mystery before anybody else. This fifth clue is a comparison between how similar Gary the Mole and Sherlock Holmes were.

EPISODE SIX

The sixth clue appears just before the sixth execution, in the mandatory scene where all of the players were taking the quizzes. But only this time, there was something hidden inside this segment.

Here is a condensed copy of the segment before the sixth execution quiz: 

Jeri Katou tapped her finger on the mouse as she read the **fourth** question of the quiz.

Misty Waterflower sighed a little while doing the **second** question of the quiz.

Struggling on the **seventh** question of the quiz, Matt Ishida leant forward and reread the question on the computer screen.

Jessie was proceeding with the **ninth** question of the quiz.

Gary was browsing his cursor down a five named list on the final question of the quiz: **Who is the Mole?**

First, notice how peculiar that the questions were being shown out of order. In all of the other episodes, the players were always seen as taking the quiz in chronological order. But however, we started at the fourth question, then jumped back to the second question in the next part. This has never happened before.

There was obviously something implied about the arrangement of the questions. If you take down the four numbers: 4, 2, 7, 9 and then apply these numbers to a regular telephone keypad, you'll be able to spell out Gary's name.

4 **G**HI

2 **A**BC

7 PQ**R**S

9 WX**Y**Z

The icing on the cake is the fact that Gary ends this quiz segment with the question "Who is the Mole?". Well, if you look carefully, the answer was already given to you just a few paragraphs above.

EPISODE SEVEN

The seventh clue is contained inside a challenge. The italic words were taken out of the seventh chapter.

Immediately Jessie turned on her laptop. There was this long dreadful logging on process she had to endure though, and when it reached the menu section, the laptop requested for a username and a password. Key by key, she slowly typed in the words "**mole**" in the password bar, a password that Yamaki had given them beforehand.

After a minute, the menu showed up and requested for her username and password. Jeri was not an experienced typist, so she had to look down at the keyboard constantly as she punched in the letters. She typed in the password "**mole**" into the laptop to continue.

The menu screen finished loading for the Cerulean gym leader, and Misty swiftly punched in '**mole**' as the password. Like Jeri, she was forced to restart her laptop after entering an incorrect answer on a question.

When the menu screen showed up, he typed **his own name** in the toolbar to log on. After everything was set, he started the program, and tuned out of Yamaki's opening speech. After a minute of listening to his recorded instructions, Gary quickly typed in the answer to the first puzzle.

Jessie, Jeri and Misty were all shown typing in the word "mole" into their computers. But only Gary was singled out and shown typing his own name in. Why? That's because Gary and the Mole share the same name. They're the same person.

"mole" "Gary"

EPISODE EIGHT

Finally, the last clue is in the eighth chapter of the story. Below are three occasions during the chapter where an out-of-place reference to a popular character is made:

Riley was sitting in the bus, reading a magazine with a picture of **Beethoven** on the cover.

Jeri sat across from her, reading a poster on the wall that featured a **Dracula** theatre show in the community.

Gary smirked and rolled his eyes at a photo with Tracey sitting under a tree and sketching the fictional character **Sirius Black** in his sketchpad.

The question is, what is the one thing that ties between Beethoven, Dracula and Sirius Black?

If you look at IMDB (Internet Movie Database) and typed in **Gary** **O**ldman's name, you'll realize that this actor played all three characters in three different movies (Immortal Beloved, Dracula, Harry Potter).

Those were some of roles that Gary Oldman played in his movie, which is a shout-out to the "role" that Gary Oak was playing in this game.

And of course, one could not miss how evidently similar the names of Gary Oldman and Gary Oak are.

I hoped you had fun searching for these clues!

* * *

"Kasumi? Do you have anything to say after winning all this money?" Yamaki asked.

"Yamaki, I want to mention once more that Jeri played just as good of a game as I did," Misty said, smiling sincerely. "She really experienced a lot in this game and she was almost like a little sister to me. We're definitely going to stay in touch."

Misty and Jeri exchanged a genuine hug together, while the other players clapped politely for the runner-up.

"Well, this is probably the right time to mention that Kasumi answered sixteen questions correctly on the quiz, and Juri answered thirteen correctly," said Yamaki. "Just three less than Kasumi."

"That's actually pretty close," said Misty, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"I'm surprised I got that high," giggled Jeri.

"Any last words from the Mole?" Yamaki asked.

"I really had fun playing as the double agent. I always loved mysteries since I was little and what could be better than actually _being_ the mystery in this game? I really had fun lying and deceiving people while being the Mole," said Gary. He paused for a few seconds and then added, "I should do it more often."

Misty laughed, slapping Gary's shoulder playfully.

The eventful night was drawing to an end. Conflicts were solved, apologies were given and questions were all answered. The game was finally over. Players were exchanging farewell hugs and handshakes, as well as whispering ways to contact each other as they returned to their different worlds. The reunion was finally wrapping up to its final act.

Jeri Katou, the amiable runner-up, will return home wholly enriched by the experience. Misty Waterflower, the determined winner, will also walk out of here with the grand prize of $508,000 and a deserving victory. And as for Gary Oak, he'll leave the game with the satisfaction and enjoyment of a job well done.

The Mole will return to his ordinary life, quietly anticipating for the next undercover mission.

END OF EXECUTION #9

Author's Notes

At last, it's all revealed! Misty ended up being the winner, mostly because a Jeri victory seemed too predictable and unchallenging. And of course, Gary was _always_ the Mole. Some of you have caught on near the end, which was actually great news because I didn't want to make the Mole too hidden. I hope you're satisfied (and hopefully surprised) with the results.

May be there's a sequel in the future, but I don't know if I have it in me. Would readers still be interested if I wrote a different reality series like Survivor? Or what about a new cast outside of the Pokemon/Digimon genre? Or how about making the story even more interactive with the readers?

This has been a great project to work on. To finish all nine lengthy chapters, it took me a year (or more, considering the original copy that got deleted), but everything was worth it. Thank you for all the dedicated and understands readers who didn't give up even when updates weren't being made for months after months! Your comments made my day every time a new chapter is posted!

During the meantime, I'm planning to make revisions to the chapters. The first four chapters definitely needs some work on, especially since now I've reread them, I noticed tons of glaring errors, formattingglitches and spelling mistakesthat just needs to be fixed.

Last but not least, here is the results for "_Who is the Mole?" _pollafter Episode 8. Jeri was the most popular choice, although the actual Mole wasn't too far behind.

40 percent- Jeri

31 percent- Gary

29 percent- Misty

Thanks for reading!


End file.
